Celler-Kefauver Antimerger Act

Celler-Kefauver Antimerger Act

A 1950 federal antitrust law that updated the Clayton Act by severely restricting anticompetitive mergers resulting from acquisition of assets.

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Celler-Kefauver Antimerger Act

An American antitrust law passed in 1950 that closed a major loophole in the Clayton Act. While the Clayton Act prohibited mergers that reduced competition, it allowed companies to buy individual assets of competitors. Some companies did this to such an extent that it reduced competition, which had the potential to effectively sideline the Clayton Act. The Celler-Kefauver Act closed this loophole, giving the government the power to stop vertical mergers and asset acquisitions regarded as reducing competition. It is often simply called the Antimerger Act.