A popular acquisition strategy used by private equity investors to gain major market share in individual industries is under the microscope of federal antitrust regulators.
The Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department’s antitrust division are looking closely at the legality of so-called roll-up strategies in which a firm acquires multiple, smaller companies in the same industry, resulting in that company holding a considerable share of the market. The regulators are examining whether this strategy is anticompetitive by unfairly reducing competition in a market.
