By Derek Dahlgren and Spencer Johnson ( August 22, 2018, 1:15 PM EDT) -- The century-old Clayton Act makes unlawful mergers or acquisitions that may have of the effect of substantially lessening competition. Remedies for such claims include both damages and injunctive relief, the latter of which may include the divestiture of certain assets or business units in order for the merger to be allowed or to reverse harm caused by a consummated merger. In 1976, Congress enacted the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and made it easier for regulatory agencies to focus on pre-merger clearance, in part to avoid the "deleterious effects of post-consummation challenges" such as the inefficiencies of divestiture of now-entangled targets from their acquiring firms....