Former FTC Competition Director Debbie Feinstein Says FTC’s Synopsys-Ansys Deal Marks Return To Practical Merger Enforcement

Debbie Feinstein, head of the firm’s Global Antitrust group and the former Director of the Bureau of Competition at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), was quoted in the Global Competition Review article, “FTC Promises Greater Openness to Merger Settlements.” The piece analyzes the FTC’s conditional approval of Synopsys’ $35 billion acquisition of Ansys and the agency’s renewed openness to structural merger remedies.

Feinstein called the shift “a positive for merger enforcement” that avoids the binary choice of permitting a deal outright or engaging in costly litigation. She also noted that the deal’s divestiture structure, grouped with the return of early terminations and narrower merger reviews, signals a more balanced and pragmatic approach to enforcement.

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