Flexing antitrust muscle, China is a new merger hurdle

China's new-found clout in regulating global mergers is causing headaches for companies seeking high-stakes deals that need Beijing's approval. Where corporate lawyers and advisers were once primarily concerned with merger clearance in the United States and Europe, China's anti-monopoly law - just five years old - has altered the calculus, as Beijing forces often painful delays with an antitrust regime that some see as an industrial policy tool. Tucked into the hulking Commerce Ministry (MOFCOM) a stone's throw from Tiananmen Square, a handful of antitrust officials are what stands between multi-billion dollar mergers and access to the world's second-largest economy. The hiccups in China's system have the potential to gum up the works - extending firms' funding needs and creating uncertainty around mergers.