SAIC-Engility deal clears antitrust hurdle

Science Applications International Corp. has cleared a key federal regulatory hurdle in its process to acquire Engility Corp. and create one of the three largest publicly-traded government services companies in the market.

SAIC said Tuesday that the mandatory 30-day waiting period for review mandated by the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 expired that day. Large merger-and-acquisition transactions are able to move forward after that window closes or if antitrust regulators end that period early.

The SAIC-Engility deal remains subject to approvals of shareholders for both companies.

M&A deals involving government IT and services providers typically have shorter antitrust review periods compared to transactions among large platform and product primes.

The SAIC-Engility transaction was cleared one month after it was first announced, as was General Dynamics’ acquisition of CSRA and the three-way merger to create Perspecta.

By comparison, Northrop Grumman’s purchase of Orbital ATK took approximately nine months for the Federal Trade Commission to review. The FTC placed conditions on the combined company’s solid rocket motor business for that deal to close.