The War on Deals: Why the Biden Administration is battling Big Business—and putting all sorts of deals under the microscope

A woman in a blue blouse and back blazer stands upright with her hands folded in front of her on a stage (Credit: Anna Moneymaker—Getty Images)

No deal is safe anymore, and the timing couldn’t be worse.

Between Jonathan Kanter’s Department of Justice antitrust division and Lina Khan’s Federal Trade Commission, billions of dollars worth of deals are on the chopping block. As of mid-July, the FTC has sued to block nine mergers and led interested parties to abandon 13 more in an 18-month period, Khan told Congress last week. And, as of Monday, another deal is under the microscope: IQVIA’s planned acquisition of Propel Media. Earlier this month, Politico reported that the Department of Justice may challenge Thoma Bravo’s acquisition of cybersecurity company ForgeRock.