43 mergers were abandoned under Lina Khan's Federal Trade Commission, a figure Khan herself counted as a measure of success. That number now marks the before-and-after line as Chairman Andrew Ferguson works to reset the agency, with the proposed combination of Covetrus and MWI Animal Health among the deals currently under review.
Khan made her position plain. When asked whether companies dropping merger plans under regulatory pressure qualified as a win, she answered: "That's right." Ferguson has pledged to "stop Lina Khan's war on mergers" and restore "certainty and clarity" to deal review. He has described that as evaluating mergers on their merits, recognizing that companies in evolving industries often need to consolidate or risk being left behind. His commission is currently reviewing several deals under that standard.
The macro backdrop
Stephen Moore, writing in a recent op-ed, frames the FTC shift against a broader economic read. GDP is projected to grow 2.5% this year, Moore writes. The S&P 500 has closed at a record high. Corporate earnings are characterized as strong, AI investment as booming. Moore credits the Trump-Vance administration's approach: restore business confidence, reduce government friction.
The contrast with the Biden years is direct, in Moore's account. Consumer prices reached levels not seen in a generation. While that inflation hit households, Khan's FTC focused on blocking private-sector consolidation. The 43 abandoned transactions are, for Moore, the clearest measure of misallocated agency energy during that period.
Covetrus, MWI, and the distributor margin
The Covetrus-MWI Animal Health combination is the deal Moore singles out as a test of Ferguson's direction. Combined, the two would form an integrated animal health distributor with the scale to invest more and, the argument goes, pass savings downstream to veterinary practices and pet owners.
The competitive pressure on each company is structural. Drug manufacturers increasingly sell directly to veterinarians, bypassing distributors. Amazon, CVS, and Chewy are pressing in from the retail side. Moore frames this as two mid-sized distributors seeking scale to hold position against those larger, better-capitalized rivals.
Ferguson has said his commission is no longer "in the business of blocking mergers for sport." The Covetrus-MWI decision will be among the first concrete reads on whether that holds.