In an interview last week with Reuters, DOJ Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer cautioned that executives who fail to consult and heed antitrust counsel's advice when considering controversial mergers may regret their decision. Baer noted that many recent deals that the antitrust agencies have reviewed have been aggressive.

Baer also noted that for those mergers the DOJ deems anticompetitive, it will push for structural remedies involving asset sales to a firm buyer before approving a proposed consent decree. Baer and the DOJ remain skeptical, however, of consent decrees in which one rival would supply another. Baer cited the 2013 consent decree submitted by Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) that was only approved after AB InBev abandoned its plan to supply the buyer.

Baer stated that the DOJ, while understaffed and currently hiring, is capable of monitoring and catching anticompetitive mergers due to the staff's expertise.