For antitrust practitioners and corporate and in-house counsel, this book examines theories distinguishing between lawful premerger coordination and unlawful gun jumping in the US, the existing law, and positions of enforcement agencies concerning preconsummation activities of the merging parties. The second half covers issues that come up throughout the deal process, such as premerger negotiation and integration planning. It focuses only on the HSR Act Section 1, the Sherman Act, and the FTC Act to preclosing conduct; it does not address other statutory or regulatory restrictions. The book surveys sources of gun-jumping information including judicial interpretations of Section 1 and Section 5 outside of the premerger context, speeches, commentary by practitioners, agency interpretations of beneficial ownership, judicial interpretations of the term acquisition under section 7 of the Clayton Act, and interpretations of the term beneficial ownership under the securities and tax laws. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)