US: Delrahim to head DOJ antitrust division

Makan Delrahim, a veteran lobbyist on President Donald Trump’s transition team, is expected to be nominated to head the US Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, two sources familiar with the vetting process told Reuters on Friday.

Delrahim is expected to move to the Justice Department after finishing up in the White House counsel’s office, where he is working to steer Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch through the Senate confirmation process.

As the proposed new chief of the Antitrust Division, he would be in charge of overseeing corporate mergers at a time when many investors and corporate executives hope for a more relaxed attitude toward deal-making after years of tougher oversight by the Obama administration.

The department is reviewing a number of major deals, including mergers of Dow and Dupont and Bayer and Monsanto. Those proposed transactions, along with a third deal, ChemChina’s purchase of Syngenta, would consolidate six agricultural chemical giants into three.

The Justice Department is also assessing AT&T’s controversial plan to buy Time Warner, owner of HBO, Warner Brothers and the news network CNN.

Full Content: Wall Street Journal