Court Opinion

ID: 9425195
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:14:02.555793+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:22:53.991380
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Marshall,
concurring in the result.
1 share the majority’s view that the District Judge erred as a matter of law and that the case must be remanded for further proceedings. I cannot agree, however, with the theory upon which the majority bases the remand.
The majority accuses the District Judge of neglecting to assess the present procompetitive effect which Falstaff exerted by remaining on the fringe of the market. The explanation for this failing is rather simple. The Government never alleged in its complaint that Falstaff was exerting a present procompetitive influence,1 it introduced not a scrap of evidence to support this view,2 and *546even at this stage of the proceedings, it seemingly disclaims reliance on this theory.3
Thus, our remand leaves the hapless District Judge with the unenviable task of reassessing nonexistent evidence under a theory advanced by neither of the parties. I submit that civil antitrust litigation is complicated enough when the trial judge confines his attention to the legal arguments and evidence offered by the parties and avoids investigation of hypothetical lawsuits which might have been brought.
*547The majority's departure from this self-evident proposition is all the more startling when one realizes that the Court eschews reliance on a well-established, plainly applicable body of law in order to reach questions not properly before it. As Me. Justice Douglas ably demonstrates, see ante, at 539-540, many decisions by this Court hold that § 7 is violated when a merger is reasonably likely to eliminate future or potential competition. See also infra, at 560-562. I know of no case suggesting that this principle is only applicable when the plaintiff can show that the merger will have present anti-competitive consequences, and the majority cites no authority for this proposition.
In the course of a nine-day trial, the Government introduced voluminous evidence to support its potential competition theory. But at the conclusion of the trial, the District Judge dismissed the Government’s action in an opinion covering a scant two and one-half pages in the Federal Supplement4 and without making any findings of fact or conclusions of law.5 See United States v. Falstaff Brewing Corp., 332 F. Supp. 970 (RI 1971).
The court held that Falstaff “was not a potential entrant into said market by any means or way other than by said acquisition. Consequently, it cannot be *548said that its acquisition of Narragansett eliminated it as a potential competitor therein.” Id.,, at 972. The District Judge based this conclusion on testimony by Falstaff executive personnel that “Falstaff had consistently decided not to attempt to enter said market unless it could acquire a brewery with a strong and viable distribution system such as that possessed by Narragansett.” Ibid.
Inasmuch as the District Court grounded its dismissal on these conclusions, I think we have a responsibility to assess the validity of the legal standard from which they are derived. I would hold that where, as here, strong objective evidence indicates that a firm is a potential entrant into a market, it is error for the trial judge to rely solely on the firm’s subjective prediction of its own future conduct. While such subjective evidence is probative on the issue of potential entry, it is inherently unreliable and must be used with great care. Ordinarily, the district court should presume that objectively measurable market forces will govern a firm’s future conduct. Only when there is a compelling demonstration that a firm will not follow its economic self-interest may the district court consider subjective evidence in predicting that conduct. Even then, subjective evidence should be preferred only when the objective evidence is weak or contradictory. Because the District Court failed to apply these standards, I would remand the case for further consideration.
I
Although this case ultimately turns on a point of law, it cannot be satisfactorily understood without some appreciation of the factual, context in which it arises. A somewhat more detailed description of the relevant line of commerce, the relevant geographic market, and the market structure than that provided by the majority is therefore in order.

*549
A. The Product Market

The relevant product market is the production and sale of beer. The firms competing for this market can be divided into three categories: national, regional, and local. The national firms, Anheuser-Busch, Schlitz, Pabst, and Miller, sell their product throughout the country and advertise on a national basis. In contrast, the regional firms, the largest of which are Hamm’s, Car-ling, Coors, Falstaff, and National Bohemian, market their beer in narrower geographical areas of varying size. Local brewers sell their product in a small area, sometimes no larger than a single State.
Originally, most of the market was held by a large number of small local and regional brewers. The high cost of transporting beer favored the local distributor in early years. But more recently, the national brewers have been able to overcome this difficulty to some extent by decentralizing their production facilities. Moreover, any remaining extra transportation costs associated with national distribution are now outweighed by the advantages of centralized management and, especially, national advertising. Thus, in recent years, while the beer market as a whole has expanded, the number of breweries has declined dramatically. See United States v. Pabst Brewing Co., 384 U. S. 546, 550 (1966). Whereas in 1935 there were 684 brewing plants operating in the United States, by 1965 the number had been reduced to 178. Economies of scale, a relatively low profit margin, and significant barriers to market entry have all led to a concentration of beer production among the few national and large regional brewers.

B. The Geographic Market

These national trends are reflected in the six New England States, which constitute the relevant geographic market. In the four years preceding Falstaff’s acquisi*550tion of Narragansett, New England beer sales increased 9.5% — a substantial gain, although somewhat below the increase in national sales for the same period. At the same time, however, the number of brewers operating plants in the region declined precipitately. Thus, in 1957, there were 11 breweries in the New England States, but by 1964 the number had declined to six, and of those six, two of the three smallest had publicly expressed an interest in merging with a larger competitor.
Not surprisingly, this decline in the number of breweries in New England was accompanied by an increase in the market shares of those selling in the region. In 1960, the eight largest participants in the New England market claimed 74% of all beer sales, and by 1964 this figure had risen to 81.2%. Examination of the four largest brewers shows that their share of the market rose from about 50% in 1960 to 54% in 1964, to 61.3% in 1965. In large part, these figures are probably explicable in terms of the nationwide trend in favor of the large national and regional brewers. Seven of the Nation’s 10 largest breweries, including, of course, all the national breweries, sell beer in New England, and their share of the market has increased as the small, local brewers disappeared.
At the same time, however, the concentration of the market does not yet seem to have produced blatantly anticompetitive effects. In recent years, prices have remained fairly stable despite rising costs, and competition seems relatively intense among the few large firms which dominate the market. Still, there is no doubt that the seeds of anticompetitive conduct are present, since “[a]s [an oligopolistic] condition develops, the greater is the likelihood that parallel policies of mutual advantage, not competition, will emerge.” United States v. Aluminum Co. of America, 377 U. S. 271, 280 (1964). One commentator’s description of the national beer market aptly characterizes the situation in New England: “The *551increasing concentration . . . and the unlikely entrance of new rivals poses a threat to the future level of competition in this industry. Thus far, there is no evidence of collusion in the beer industry. But as the industry becomes populated by fewer and fewer companies, the possibility and likelihood will be enhanced of their engaging in tacit or direct collusion — given the inelastic nature of demand — to establish a joint profit maximizing price and output. Similarly, the chances will become slimmer that individual firms in the industry will follow a truly independent price and production strategy, vigorously striving to take sales away from rival brewers. With only a few sellers will come the increasing awareness that parallel business behavior might be feasible.” Elzinga, The Beer Industry, in W. Adams, The Structure of American Industry 189, 213 (4th ed. 1971).
C. Narragansett — The Acquired Firm
Narragansett is a regional brewery with only minuscule sales outside of New England. Within the New England market, however, the firm has been highly successful. Although only twenty-first in national sales and accounting for only 1.4% of the beer sales in the United States, Narragansett was the largest seller of beer in New England for the five years preceding its acquisition. In recent years, the firm has expanded steadily until, in 1964, the year before acquisition, it sold 1.275 million barrels, which was about 20% of the New England market. Net profits had increased from $417,284 in 1960 to a record level of $713,083 in 1964.
Notwithstanding this growth, Narragansett felt itself under some pressure from the national brewers.6 The *552corporation was closely held by the Haffenreffer family, and the stockholders apparently concluded that it was in their interest to diversify their personal holdings by selling Narragansett.
D. Falstaff — The Acquiring Firm
Like Narragansett, Falstaff has been highly successful in recent years. Beginning with a 100,000-barrel plant in St. Louis shortly after the repeal of Prohibition, the firm has steadily grown. By 1964, it was the Nation’s fourth largest producer, marketing 5.8 million barrels, or 5.9% of the total national production.
Throughout its history, Falstaff has followed a pattern of acquiring weak breweries and expanding them so as to extend its influence to new markets. Although still a regional brewer, by 1965 the company had expanded its network of plants and distributorships over an area far larger than that in which Narragansett competed. In that year, Falstaff operated eight plants and sold its product in 32 States in the West, Midwest, and South. Sixteen of these States were added in the period after 1950. However, as of 1965, Falstaff sold virtually no beer in any of the Northeastern States, including the six composing the New England area. Falstaff marketed its product both through company-owned branches and through some 600 independent distributorships.7
*553In the years immediately prior to its acquisition of Narragansett, Falstaff’s steady pattern of growth had continued. Between 1955 and 1964, its sales increased from $77 million to $139.5 million and its net profits grew from $4.3 million to $7 million. In the year before acquisition, the company announced a 10-year expansion program in which it was prepared to invest $35 million.
Yet, despite this encouraging trend, Falstaff, like Narragansett, was to some extent handicapped by the competitive advantages — in particular, national advertising— enjoyed by national distributors. For years, the company had publicly expressed the desire to become a national brewer, and the logical region for market extension was the Northeast. New England seemed a particularly appropriate area to initiate expansion. As indicated above, seven of the 10 largest manufacturers already sold beer in New England, and Falstaff was the largest of the three remaining outside the market. The New England market was expanding at a healthy rate, and it appeared to be a fertile area for growth.
In 1958, Falstaff commissioned a study from Arthur D. Little, Inc., to determine the feasibility of future expansion. The Little Report, two years in the making, concluded that Falstaff should enter the northeastern market sometime within the next five years. But although it was clear that Falstaff should move into the northeast market, the method of entry was less obvious. After a careful review of cost estimates and the ratio of earnings to net worth, the Little Report recommended de novo entry through the construction of a new plant to serve the Northeast. The report concluded that “ [t]here appears to be ample reason ... for building rather than buying . . . [and] that major new market entrances need *554not be predicated on the availability of a brewery Falstaff could purchase.”
Despite this analysis, Falstaff's own management personnel apparently concluded that the profit return on a de novo entry would be inordinately low.8 Falstaff argued at trial that it needed a strong, pre-existing distribution system to make a profitable entry. But cf. n. 7, supra. An independent economist, Dr. Ira Horowitz, testified on behalf of Falstaff that de novo entry would result in a 6.7% return which he characterized as “a very, very poor investment indeed.” However, it should be noted that the 6.7% figure failed to account for the increment in FalstafFs profit margin which would result from its newly gained status as a national brewer with modern plants to serve the eastern part of the Nation — the very increment which provided the primary motivation for expansion in the first place. While Dr. Horowitz apparently recognized that such an increment might materialize, he stated that he was unable to estimate its size.9 Moreover, even the 6.7% return rate compares favorably with Falstaff's actual rate of return on its Narragansett purchase, which was a mere 3.7%.
In any event, whatever the abstract merits of this dispute, it is clear that Falstaff's management personnel determined that entry by acquisition offered the preferable avenue for expansion. Beginning in 1962, the company held discussions with Liebmann, P. Ballantine *555& Sons,10 Piel Brothers, and Dawsons, all of which did a significant percentage of their business in the New England market. All of these possibilities were eventually rejected, and in 1965, Falstaff finally settled on Narragansett as the most promising available brewery.
II
With this factual background, it becomes possible to articulate the legal standards which should govern the resolution of this case.

A. The Purposes of § 7

As is clear from its face, § 7 was designed to deal with the anticompetitive effects of excessive industrial concentration caused by the corporate marriage of two competitors. “It is the basic premise of [§ 7] that competition will be most vital 'when there are many sellers, none of which has any significant market share.’ ” United States v. Aluminum Co. of America, 377 U. S., at 280.
But § 7 does more than prohibit mergers with immediate anticompetitive effects. The Act by its terms prohibits acquisitions which “may . . . substantially . . . lessen competition, or . . . tend to create a monopoly.” The use of the subjunctive indicates that Congress was concerned with the potential effects of mergers even though, at the time they occur, they may cause no present anticompetitive consequences. See, e. g., FTC v. Procter & Gamble Co., 386 U. S. 568, 577 (1967). To be sure, remote possibilities are not sufficient to satisfy the test set forth in § 7. Despite substantial concern with halting a trend toward concentration in its incipiency, Congress did not intend to prohibit all expansion and growth through acquisition *556and merger. The predictive judgment often required under § 7 involves a decision based upon a careful scrutiny and a reasonable assessment of the future consequences of a merger without unjustifiable, speculative interference with traditional market freedoms. As we stated in Brown Shoe Co. v. United States, 370 U. S. 294, 323 (1962): “Congress used the words ‘may he substantially to lessen competition’ (emphasis supplied), to indicate that its concern was with probabilities, not certainties. Statutes existed for dealing with clear-cut menaces to competition; no statute was sought for dealing with ephemeral possibilities. Mergers with a probable anticompetitive effect were to be proscribed by this Act.” See also United States v. Pabst Brewing Co., 384 U. S., at 552; United States v. Penn-Olin Chemical Co., 378 U. S. 158, 171 (1964).
The legislative history of § 7 makes plain that this was the intent of Congress. Before 1950, § 7 prohibited only those mergers which lessened competition “between the corporation whose stock is so acquired and the corporation making the acquisition.” 11 The Celler-Kefauver Amendment, added in 1950, deleted these words and provided instead that all mergers which substantially lessened competition “in any line of commerce in any section of the country” were to be outlawed. See 64 Stat. 1126. Thus, whereas before 1950, § 7 proscribed only *557those mergers which eliminated present, actual competition between the merging firms, the Celler-Kefauver Amendment reached cases where future or potential competition in the entire relevant market might be adversely affected by the merger.12 “Section 7 of the Clayton Act was intended to arrest the anticompetitive effects of market power in their incipiency. The core question is whether a merger may substantially lessen competition, and necessarily requires a prediction of the merger’s impact on competition, present and future. . . . The section can deal only with probabilities, not with certainties. . . . And there is certainly no requirement that the anticompetitive power manifest itself in anticompetitive *558action before § 7 can be called into play. If the enforcement of § 7 turned on the existence of actual anticompeti-tive practices, the congressional policy of thwarting such practices in their incipiency would be frustrated.” FTC v. Procter & Gamble Co., 386 U. S., at 577.

B. Modes of Potential Competition

Since 1950, we have repeatedly applied § 7 to cases where the merging firms competed in the same line of commerce, and we have been willing to define the line of commerce liberally so as to reach anticompetitive practices in their “incipiency.” See, e. g., United States v. Phillipsburg National Bank, 399 U. S. 350 (1970); United States v. Pabst Brewing Co., 384 U. S. 546 (1966); United States v. Aluminum Co. of America, 377 U. S. 271 (1964); United States v. Philadelphia National Bank, 374 U. S. 321 (1963); Brown Shoe Co. v. United States, 370 U. S. 294 (1962). But in keeping with the spirit of the Celler-Kefauver Amendment, we have also applied § 7 to cases where the acquiring firm is outside the market in which the acquired firm competes. These cases fall into three broad categories which, while frequently overlapping, can be dealt with separately for analytical purposes.
1. The Dominant Entrant. — In some situations, a firm outside the market may have. overpowering resources which, if brought to bear within the market, could ultimately have a substantial anticompetitive effect. If such a firm were to acquire a company within the relevant market, it might drive other marginal companies out of business, thus creating an oligopoly, or it might raise entry barriers to such an extent that potential new entrants would be discouraged from entering the market. Cf. Ford Motor Co. v. United States, 405 U. S. 562, 567-568 (1972); FTC v. Procter & Gamble Co., 386 *559U. S., at 575.13 Such a danger is especially intense when the market is already highly concentrated or entry barriers are already unusually high before the dominant firm enters the market.
2. The Perceived Potential Entrant. — Even if the entry of a firm does not upset the competitive balance within the market, it may be that the removal of the firm from the fringe of the market has a present anticompetitive effect. In a concentrated oligopolistic market, the presence of a large potential competitor on the edge of the market, apparently ready to enter if entry barriers are lowered, may deter anticompetitive conduct within the market. As we pointed out in United States v. Penn-Olin Chemical Co., 378 U. S., at 174: “The existence of an aggressive, well equipped and well financed corporation engaged in the same or related lines of commerce waiting anxiously to enter an oligopolistic market [is] a substantial incentive to competition which cannot be underestimated.” From the perspective of the firms already in the market, the possibility of entry by such a lingering firm may be an important consideration in their pricing and marketing decisions. When the lingering firm enters the market by acquisition, the competitive influence exerted by the firm is lost with no offsetting gain through an increase in the number of companies seeking a share of the relevant market. The result is a net de*560crease in competitive pressure.14 Cf. United, States v. El Paso Natural Gas Co., 376 U. S. 651, 659-660 (1964).
3. The Actual Potential Entrant. — Since the effect of a perceived potential entrant depends upon the perception of those already in the market, it may in some cases be difficult to prove. Moreover, in a market which is already competitive, the existence of a perceived potential entrant will have no present effect at all.15 The entry by acquisition of such a firm may nonetheless have an anticompetitive effect by eliminating an actual potential competitor. When a firm enters the market by acquiring a strong company within the market, it merely assumes the position of that company without necessarily increasing- competitive pressures. Had such a firm not entered by acquisition, it might at some point have entered de *561novo. An entry de novo would increase competitive pressures within the market, and an entry by acquisition eliminates the possibility that such an increase will take place in the future. Thus, even if a firm at the fringe of the market exerts no present procompetitive effect, its entry by acquisition may end for all time the promise of more effective competition at some future date.
Obviously, the anticompetitive effect of such an acquisition depends on the possibility that the firm would have entered de novo had it not entered by acquisition. If the company would have remained outside the market but for the possibility of entry by acquisition, and if it is exerting no influence as a perceived potential entrant, then there will normally be no competitive loss when it enters by acquisition. Indeed, there may even be a competitive gain to the extent that it strengthens the market position of the acquired firm.16 Thus, mere entry by acquisition would not prima facie establish a firm's status as an actual potential entrant. For example, a firm, although able to enter the market by acquisition, might, because of inability to shoulder the de novo start-up costs, be unable to enter de novo. But where a powerful firm is engaging in a related line of commerce at the fringe of the relevant market, where it has a strong incentive to enter the market de novo, and where it has the financial capabilities to do so, we have not hesitated to ascribe to it the role of an actual potential entrant. In such cases, we have held that § 7 prohibits an entry by acquisition since such an entry eliminates the possibility of future actual competition which would occur if there were an entry de novo.
*562In light of the many decisions to this effect, the majority’s assertion that “the Court has not squarely faced [this] question” is inexplicable. In United States v. Continental Can Co., 378 U. S. 441 (1964), for example, the defendant argued that “the types of containers produced by Continental and Hazel-Atlas [the acquired firm] at the time of the merger were for the most part not in competition with each other and hence the merger could have no effect on competition.” Id., at 462. But Mr. Justice White, writing for the Court, rejected that argument, holding that “[i]t is not at all self-evident that the lack of current competition between Continental and Hazel-Atlas for some important end uses of metal and glass containers significantly diminished the adverse effect of the merger on competition. Continental might have concluded that it could effectively insulate itself from competition by acquiring a major firm not presently directing its market acquisition efforts toward the same end uses as Continental, but possessing the potential to do so.” Id., at 464 (emphasis added). The majority says it is “only arbitrary” to read this language as not referring to Hazel-Atlas’ present procompetitive influence on the market. But the Continental Can Court said not a word about present pro-competitive effects, and, indeed, made clear that it was relying on the future anticompetitive impact of the merger. The Court held, for example, that “the fact that Continental and Hazel-Atlas were not substantial competitors of each other for certain end uses at the time of the merger may actually enhance the long-run tendency of the merger to lessen competition.” Id., at 465 (emphasis added). See also Ford Motor Co. v. United States, 405 U. S. 562 (1972); FTC v. Procter & Gamble Co., 386 U. S. 568 (1967); United States v. Penn-Olin Chemical Co., 378 U. S. 158 (1964); United States v. El Paso Natural Gas Co., 376 U. S. 651 (1964).
*563C. Problems of Proof — The Role of Subjective Evidence
Although § 7 deals with probabilities, not ephemeral possibilities, all forms of potential competition involve future events and all of them are, therefore, to some extent speculative and uncertain. Whether future competition will be reduced by a present merger is clearly “not the kind of question which is susceptible of a ready and precise answer in most cases. It requires not merely an appraisal of the immediate impact of the merger upon competition, but a prediction of its impact upon competitive conditions in the future; this is what is meant when it is said that the amended § 7 was intended to arrest anticompetitive tendencies in their ‘incipiency.’ ” United States v. Philadelphia National Bank, 374 U. S., at 362.
The unavoidable problems of proof are compounded in some cases by the relevance of subjective statements of future intent by the managers of the acquiring firm. Although not susceptible of precise analysis, the objective conditions of the market may at least be measured and quantified. But there exists no very good way of evaluating a subjective statement by the manager of a firm that the firm does or does not intend to enter a given market at some future date.
Fortunately, in two of the three forms of potential competition, such subjective evidence has no role to play. Clearly, in the case of a dominant entrant, the only issue is whether the firm’s entry by acquisition will so upset objective market forces as to substantially reduce future competition. Since the firm will have already taken steps to enter the market by the time a § 7 action is filed, its statements of subjective intent are irrelevant.
*564Similarly, when the Government proceeds on the theory that the acquiring firm is a perceived potential entrant, testimony as to the subjective intent of the acquiring firm is not probative. The perceived potential entrant exerts a procompetitive effect because companies in the market perceive it as a potential entrant. The companies in the market may entertain this perception whether the perceived potential entrant is in fact a potential entrant or not. Thus, a firm on the fringe of the market may exert a procompetitive effect even if it has no intention of entering the market, so long as it seems to those within the market that it may have such an intention.17 It follows that subjective testimony by the managers of the perceived potential entrant is irrelevant.18
However, subjective statements of management are probative in cases where the acquiring firm is alleged to be an actual potential entrant. First, management’s statements that it does not intend to make a de novo market entry, together with its associated reasons, provide an expert judgment on the conclusions to be drawn *565by the trier of fact from the objective market forces. Just as the Government may introduce expert testimony to inform and guide the trial court with respect to the appropriate business judgments to be derived from the objective data, so too the defendant is entitled to present the evaluation of its own “experts” who may include its management personnel. Although such evidence from management is obviously biased and self-serving, it is nonetheless admissible to prove that the objective market pressures do not favor a de novo entry.
More significantly, management's statement of subjective intent, if believed, affects the firm’s status as an actual potential entrant. As indicated above, the actual potential entrant’s entry by acquisition is anti-competitive only if it eliminates some future possibility that it might have entered de novo. An unequivocal statement by management that it has absolutely no intention of entering the market de novo at any time in the future is relevant to the issue of whether the possibility of such an entry exists. After all, the character of management is itself essentially an objective factor in determining whether the acquiring firm is an actual potential entrant.
But although subjective evidence is probative and admissible in actual potential-entry cases, its utility is sharply limited. We have certainly never suggested that subjective evidence of likely future entry is required to make out a § 7 case. On the contrary, in United States v. Penn-Olin Chemical Co., 378 U. S., at 175, where the objective evidence of potential entry was strong, we said, “Unless we are going to require subjective evidence, this array of probability certainly reaches the prima facie stage. As we have indicated, to require more would be to read the statutory requirement of reasonable probability into a requirement of certainty. This we will not do.” (Emphasis added.)
*566Nor do our prior cases hold that the district courts are bound by subjective statements of company officials that they have no intention of making a de novo entry. We have emphasized that the decision whether the acquiring firm is an actual potential entrant is, in the last analysis, an independent one to be made by the trial court on the basis of all relevant evidence properly weighted according to its credibility. Thus, in FTC v. Procter & Gamble Co., for example, managers of Procter & Gamble testified that they had no intention of making a de novo entry, and the Court of Appeals thought itself bound by that testimony. See 386 U. S., at 580, and id., at 585 (Harlan, J., concurring). We reversed, holding that “[t]he evidence . . . clearly shows that Procter was the most likely entrant.” Id., at 580.
As these cases indicate, subjective evidence has, at best, only a marginal role to play in actual potential-entry cases. In order to make out a prima facie case, the Government need only show that objectively measurable market data favor a de nova entry and that the alleged potential entrant has the economic capability to make such an entry. To be sure, the defendant may then introduce subjective testimony in rebuttal, and in the rare ease where the objective evidence is evenly divided, it is conceivable that extremely credible subjective evidence might tip the balance. But where objectively measurable market forces make clear that it is in a firm’s economic self-interest to make a de novo entry and that the firm has the economic capability to do so, I would hold that it is error for the District Court to conclude that the firm is not an actual potential entrant on the basis of testimony by company officials as to the firm’s future intent.19
*567The reasons for so limiting the role of subjective evidence are not difficult to discern. Such evidence should obviously be given no weight if it is not credible. But it is in the very nature of such evidence that in the *568usual case it is not worthy of credit.20 First, any statement of future intent will be inherently self-serving. A defendant in a § 7 case such as this wishes to enter the market by acquisition and its managers know that its ability to do so depends upon whether it can convince a court that it would not have entered de novo if entry by acquisition were prevented. It is thus strongly in management's interest to represent that it has no intention of entering de novo — a representation which is not subject to external verification and which is so speculative in nature that it could virtually never serve as the predicate for a perjury charge.
Moreover, in a case where the objective evidence strongly favors entry de novo, a firm which asks us to believe that it does not intend to enter de novo by implication asks us to believe that it does not intend to act in its own economic self-interest. But corporations are, after all, profit-making institutions, and, absent special circumstances, they can be expected to follow courses of action most likely to maximize profits.21 The *569trier of fact should, therefore, look with great suspicion upon a suggestion that a company with an opportunity to expand its market and the means to seize upon that opportunity will follow a deliberate policy of self-abnegation if the route of expansion first selected is legally foreclosed to it.
Thus, in most cases, subjective statements contrary to the objective evidence simply should not be believed. But even if the threshold credibility gap is breached, it still does not follow that subjective statements of future intent should outweigh strong objective evidence to the contrary. Even if it is true that management has no present intent of entering the market de novo, the possibility remains that it may change its mind as the objective factors favoring such entry are more clearly perceived. Of course, it is possible that management will adamantly continue to close its eyes to the company’s own self-interest. But in that event, the chance remains that the stockholders will install new, more competent officers who will better serve their interests. All of these possibilities are abruptly and irrevocably aborted when the firm is allowed to enter the market by acquisition. And while it is conceivable that none of the possibilities will materialize if entry by aequisi*570tion is prevented, it is absolutely certain that they will not materialize if such entry is permitted. All that is necessary to trigger a § 7 violation is a finding by the trial court of a reasonable chance of future competition. In most cases, strong objective evidence will be sufficient to create such a chance despite even credible subjective statements to the contrary.22
To summarize, then, I would not hold that subjective evidence may never be considered in the context of an actual potential-entry case. Such evidence should always be admissible as expert, although biased, commentary on the nature of the objective evidence. And in a rare case, the subjective evidence may serve as a counterweight to weak or inconclusive objective data. But when the district court can point to no compelling reason why the subjective testimony should be believed or when the objective evidence strongly points to the feasibility of entry de novo, I would hold that it is error for the court to rely in any way upon management's subjective statements as to its own future intent.
III
As indicated above, the Government failed to press the argument that Falstaff was a dominant or perceived potential entrant. Since there is virtually no evidence in the record to support either of these theories, I cannot *571say that the District Judge erred in rejecting them. It does appear, however, that he applied an erroneous standard in evaluating the subjective evidence relevant to Falstaff’s position as an actual potential entrant and that this error infected the court’s factual determinations. I would therefore remand the cause so that a proper fact-finding can be made.
The record shows that the New England market is highly concentrated with a few large firms gaining a greater and greater share of the market. Although this market structure has yet to produce overtly anticompeti-tive behavior, there is a real danger that parallel pricing and marketing policies will soon emerge if new competitors do not enter the field.
The objective evidence in the record strongly suggests that Falstaff had both the capability and the incentive to enter the New England market de novo. It is undisputed that it was in Falstaff’s interest to gain the status of a national brewer in the near future and that New England was a logical area to begin its expansion. Indeed, Falstaff’s own actions in entering the New England market support this conclusion. Nor can it be doubted that Falstaff had the economic capability to enter New England. Falstaff is the Nation’s fourth largest brewer and the largest still outside of New England. It has been consistently profitable in recent years, has an excellent credit rating, and had, in 1964, enough excess capital to finance a 10-year, $35 million expansion project. The Little Report concluded that de novo entry into the Northeast was feasible and, although Falstaff attacks these findings, the trier of fact might well have accepted them had he relied upon the objective evidence.
To be sure, Falstaff introduced a great deal of evidence tending to show that entry de novo would have been less profitable for it than entry by acquisition. *572I have no doubt that this is true. Indeed, if it can be assumed that Falstaff is a rational, profit-maximizing corporation, its own decision offers strong proof that entry by acquisition was the preferable alternative. But the test in § 7 cases is not whether anticompetitive conduct is profit maximizing. The very purpose of § 7 is to direct the profit incentive into channels which are procompetitive. Thus, the proper test is whether Falstaff would have entered the market de novo if the preferable alternative of entry by acquisition had been denied it. The objective evidence strongly suggests that such an entry would have occurred.
The District Court, however, chose to ignore this objective evidence almost totally. Instead, the trial judge seems to have considered himself bound by Falstaff’s subjective representations that it had no intention of entering the market de novo. As noted above, even if these subjective statements are credible, they appear to be insufficient to outweigh the strong objective evidence to the contrary.
Findings of fact are, of course, for the trial judge in the first instance, and even in antitrust cases where the evidence is largely documentary, appellate courts should be reluctant to set them aside. But when the facts are found under a standard which is legally deficient, the situation is fundamentally different. It is the duty of appellate courts to establish the legal standards by which the facts are to be judged. The facts in this case were judged by a wrong standard, and the cause should therefore be remanded for a new, error-free determination.

 The Government’s complaint alleged that the merger violated §7 because “[potential competition in the production and sale of beer between Falstaff and Narragansett will be eliminated.” (Emphasis added.) While it is true, as the majority asserts, that “potential competition may stimulate a present procompetitive influence,” see ante, at 534 n. 13, the complaint nowhere alleges that such a procompetitive influence occurred in this case.

 Significantly, the majority cites no evidence at all from the record indicating that firms within the New England market were deterred from anticompetitive practices by Falstaff’s presence at the market fringe. Indeed, my Brethren concede that “[t]he Govern*546ment did not produce direct evidence of how members of the New England market reacted to potential competition from Falstaff,” ibid. While the majority contends that there was “circumstantial evidence” relevant to determining whether there was a loss of procompetitive influence, the evidence it points to suggests only that Falstaff might have been perceived as a potential entrant— not that this perception produced a present procompetitive effect. In fact, the little evidence on the question which does appear in the record strongly suggests that Falstaff was exerting no pro-competitive influence. Thus, an economist testifying for the defense stated that, in his expert judgment, Falstaff’s presence on the fringe of the market “had no effect” on the practices of firms within the market (App. 257). Similarly, the director of marketing for Narragansett testified that those within the market did not view Falstaff as a threat and that it never occurred to them that Falstaff would attempt a de novo entry (App. 376).
To be sure, this testimony may well have been biased and might properly have been discounted by the trier of fact. But it is harder to dismiss the documentary evidence showing continued vigorous competition after Falstaff’s entry by acquisition. If Falstaff was exerting a substantial procompetitive influence by threatening entry, it would seem to follow that anticompetitive practices should have emerged when this threat was removed. The majority nowhere accounts for the continuing absence of such practices.

 In its brief before this Court, the Government characterizes its cause of action as follows:
“The theory of the suit was that potential competition in the New England beer market may be substantially lessened by the acquisition.” Brief for United States 2-3.

 Cf. United States v. El Paso Natural Gas Co., 376 U. S. 651, 663 (1964) (opinion of Harlan, J.):
“Both as a practitioner and as a judge I have more than once felt that a closely contested government antitrust case, decided below in favor of the defendant, has foundered in this Court for lack of an illuminating opinion by the District Court. District Courts should not forget that such eases, the trials of which usually result in long and complex factual records, come here without the benefit of any sifting by the Courts of Appeals. The absence of an opinion by the District Court has been a handicap in this instance.”

 See Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 52 (a). Cf. United States v. El Paso Natural Gas Co., supra, at 656-657.

 This pressure continued during the post-acquisition period. From 1964 to 1969, Narragansett’s share of the market slipped from 21.5% to 15.5%, while Anheuser-Busch and Schlitz, two large national firms, increased their combined share from 16.5% to 35.8%.

 At trial, Falstaff argued that it was unlikely to make a de novo entry into the New England market since it had learned through experience that a strong, pre-existing organization of distributors was essential to success. It is true that Falstaff sold most of its beer through independent distributors. However, it should be noted that between 20% and 25% of its sales were made through company branches which Falstaff had established itself. As might be expected, Falstaff’s profit margin was significantly higher in areas where it used its own distribution facilities. Moreover, Falstaff’s assertion is belied by its own prior history. As noted above, for years Falstaff had successfully expanded by purchasing failing *553breweries with weak distribution facilities and turning them into effective competitors.

 At trial, Falstaff also argued that the other Little recommendations which Falstaff did follow led to disastrous consequences, that Little's estimate of construction costs were unrealistic, and that the Little Report was premised on Falstaff's penetration of the mid-Atlantic as well as the New England market.

 Dr. Horowitz’ estimates were based on the assumption that Falstaff's profit margin would be $1.16 per barrel, which was the margin currently enjoyed by the company. However, Anheuser-Busch and Pabst, two of the larger national breweries, both earned more than $2.50 per barrel in their modern plants.

 Ultimately, on March 6, 1972, Falstaff announced plans to acquire Ballantine’s trademarks and tradename.

 The original §7 provided in relevant part: “[N]o corporation engaged in commerce shall acquire, directly or indirectly, the whole or any part of the stock or other share capital of another corporation engaged also in commerce, where the effect of such acquisition may be to substantially lessen competition between the corporation whose stock is so acquired and the corporation making the acquisition, or to restrain such commerce in any section or community, or tend to create a monopoly of any line of commerce.” 38 Stat. 731.

 The legislative history of the 1950 amendment was traced in detail in our opinion in Brown Shoe Co. v. United States, 370 U. S. 294 (1962). “The deletion of the ‘acquiring-acquired’ test was the direct result of an amendment offered by the Federal Trade Commission. In. presenting the proposed change, Commission Counsel Kelley made the following points: this Court’s decisions had implied that the effect on competition between the parties to the merger was not the only test of the illegality of a stock merger; the Court had applied Sherman Act tests to Clayton Act cases and thus judged the effect of a merger on the industry as a whole; this incorporation of Sherman Act tests, with the accompanying ‘rule of reason,’ was inadequate for reaching some mergers which the Commission felt were not in the public interest; and the new amendment proposed a middle ground between what appeared to be an overly restrictive test insofar as mergers between competitors were concerned, and what appeared to the Commission to be an overly lenient test insofar as all other mergers were concerned. Congressman Kefauver supported this amendment and the Commission’s proposal was then incorporated into the bill which was eventually adopted by the Congress. See Hearings [before Subcommittee No. 2 of the House Committee on the Judiciary] on H. R. 515, [80th Cong., 1st Sess.] at 23, 117-119, 238-240, 259; Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee on H. R. 2734, 81st Cong., 1st Sess. . . . 147.” 370 U. S., at 317 n. 30.

 To be sure, in terms of anticompetitive effects, the dominant firm’s acquisition of another firm within the market might be functionally indistinguishable from a de novo entry, which § 7 does not forbid. But “surely one premise of an antimerger statute such as § 7 is that corporate growth by internal expansion is socially preferable to growth by acquisition.” United States v. Philadelphia National Bank, 374 U. S. 321, 370 (1963). Moreover, entry by acquisition has the added evil of eliminating one firm in the market and thus increasing the burden on the remaining firms which must compete with the dominant entering firm.

 Thus, whereas the practical difference between entry by acquisition and entry de novo may be marginal in the case of a dominant entrant, see n. 13, supra, it is crucial in the case of a perceived potential entrant. If the perceived potential entrant enters de novo, its deterrent effect on anticompetitive practices remains and the total number of firms competing for market shares increases. But when such a firm enters by acquisition, it merely steps into the shoes of the acquired firm. The result is no net increase in the actual competition for market shares and the removal of a threat exerting procompetitive influence from outside the market.

 Still, even if the market is presently competitive, it is possible that it might grow less competitive in the future. For example, a market might be so concentrated that even though it is presently competitive, there is a serious risk that parallel pricing policies might emerge sometime in the near future. In such a situation, an effective competitor lingering on the fringe of the market— what might be called a potential perceived potential entrant— could exert a deterrent force when anticompetitive conduct is about to emerge. As its very name suggests, however, such a firm would be still a further step removed from the exertion of actual, present competitive influence, and the problems of proof are compounded accordingly — particularly in light of the showing of reasonable probability required under § 7.

 However, if the acquired firm is strengthened to such an extent that it upsets the market balance and drives its competitors out of the market, the acquiring firm takes on the characteristics of a dominant entrant, and the merger may therefore violate § 7 under that theory. See supra, at 558-560 and n. 14.

 Thus, in United States v. Penn-Olin Chemical Co., 378 U. S. 158 (1964), for example, management testified that the company had no intention of making a de novo, nonacquisitive entry, id., at 166, and in part on the basis of this testimony, the District Court found that such an entry was unlikely, id., at 173. But we rejected this finding as irrelevant to the company’s status as a perceived potential entrant since “the corporation . . . might have remained at the edge of the market, continually threatening to enter,” ibid., and so affected competition within the market.

 Public statements by management that the firm does not intend to enter the market may be relevant. To the extent that such statements are believed by the firms within the market, they affect their perception of the firm outside the market as a potential entrant. But in that event, the statements of intent are admissible, not to show subjective state of mind, but, rather, as one of the objective factors controlling the perception of the firms within the market.

 It might be argued that economic decisions are “inherently subjective” and that any attempt to derive objective conclusions from *567economic data is futile. If this observation means that different people reach different conclusions from the same objective data, then the point must, of course, be conceded. Similarly, if the point is that economic predictions are difficult and fraught with uncertainty, it is well taken. As we recognized in United States v. Philadelphia National Bank, such questions are “not . . . susceptible of a ready and precise answer in most cases.” 374 U. S., at 362. But although the factual controversies in § 7 cases may prove difficult to resolve, the statutory scheme clearly demands their resolution. As this Court, held years ago, in response to a similar argument: “So far as the arguments proceed upon the conception that in view of the generality of the statute it is not susceptible of being enforced by the courts because it cannot be carried out without a judicial exertion of legislative power, they are clearly unsound. The statute certainly generically enumerates the character of acts which it prohibits and the wrong which it was intended to prevent. The propositions, therefore but insist that ... it never can be left to the judiciary to decide whether in a given case particular acts come within a generic statutory provision. But to reduce the propositions, however, to this their final meaning makes it clear that in substance they deny the existence of essential legislative authority and challenge the right of the judiciary to perform duties which that department of the government has exerted from the beginning.” Standard Oil Co. v. United States, 221 U. S. 1, 69-70 (1911). Section 7 by its terms requires the trial judge to make a prediction, and it is entirely possible that others may reasonably disagree with the conclusion he reaches. But a holding that the fact of such disagreement requires the judge to delegate his decision-making authority to one of the parties would strike at the heart of the very notion of judicial conflict resolution. While it may be true that different people see economic facts in different light, § 7 gives federal judges and juries the responsibility to reach their conclusions as to the economic facts. And “[i]f justice requires the fact to be ascertained, the difficulty of doing so is no ground for refusing to try.” O. Holmes, The Common Law 48.

 The Government directs our attention to a case which dramatically illustrates the unreliable character of such evidence. When the Government challenged Bethlehem Steel's acquisition of Youngstown Steel in a § 7 proceeding, Bethlehem vigorously argued that it would never enter the Midwestern steel market de novo. But when the merger was disallowed, see United States v. Bethlehem Steel Corp., 168 F. Supp. 576 (SDNY 1958), Bethlehem nonetheless elected to make a de novo entry. See Moody’s Industrial Manual 2861 (1966).

 It is possible to imagine a small, closely held corporation which is not solely concerned with profit maximization and which through excessive conservatism or inertia would not seize upon an opportunity to expand its profits. But such a corporation is exceedingly unlikely to become the defendant in a § 7 lawsuit. Section 7 suits of this type are triggered when a firm tries to expand its market by entering hitherto foreign territory by acquisition. A firm caught *569in the act of expanding by acquisition can hardly be heard to say that it is uninterested in expansion.
It is also possible that a firm might make a good-faith error as to the nature of objective market forces. Thus, even though the objective factors favor entry de novo, the firm’s managers might think that the same factors are unfavorable. But as the objective evidence favoring entry becomes stronger, the possibility of good-faith error correspondingly decreases, so that if the objective forces favoring entry are clear, the chance of good-faith error becomes de minimis. Moreover, the mere fact that a firm is presently making a good-faith error does not demonstrate that it will continue to do so in the future. See supra, this page.

 The distinction between subjective statements of intent and objectively verifiable facts is not unknown in other areas of the law. See, e. g., Wright v. Council of City of Emporia, 407 U. S. 451, 460-462 (1972); NLRB v. Erie Resistor Corp., 373 U. S. 221, 227-228 (1963). Indeed, perhaps the oldest rule of evidence — that a.man is presumed to intend the natural and probable consequences of his acts — is based on the common law’s preference for objectively measurable data over subjective statements of opinion and intent. Nor have we hesitated to apply this principle to antitrust law. See, e. g., Utah Pie Co. v. Continental Baking Co., 386 U. S. 685, 702-703 (1967); United States v. Gypsum Co., 333 U. S. 364, 394 (1948).