US Relaunches Effort to Ease Antitrust Rules Amid M&A Boom; Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman Comments on Stock Value

The U.S. Department of Justice has relaunched efforts to relax antitrust regulations, aiming to reduce the burden of merger reviews as corporate dealmaking increases. Separately, Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman stated on a Thursday earnings call that the company's stock is 'on sale' after a 25% decline over the past year, attributing the drop to fears of distress in private markets and tougher institutional fundraising conditions.