, the largest US natural gas producer, in connection with a $5.2bn deal between the two. The FTC cited section 8 of the 1914 Clayton Antitrust Act, which disallows interlocking directorates.“Over the past year, our colleagues at the [DoJ] antitrust division have sought to reactivate Section 8 and effectively put market participants back on notice,” Lina Khan, FTC chair, said on Wednesday, adding that her agency’s action on EQT and Quantum “build[s] on that effort”.
Khan said she was concerned that a years-long “decline” in enforcement had “led to under-deterrence and that corporate actors are not sufficiently appreciative of section 8’s prohibitions”. of private equity firms rolling up significant segments of American industry. Executives from a buyout group at times sit on the boards of multiple, competing companies that they own or control.
Interlocking directorates were less of a concern for “well-counselled” public companies, Rule said. “Most Fortune 500 companies are pretty careful along those lines.”