Tougher merger control is a striking trend across the globe, with more deals than ever facing a struggle to achieve clearance on the kind of terms they used to expect, and divergent outcomes across major jurisdictions becoming more common. Enforcers are increasingly suspicious of remedies in the form of behavioural commitments and fragmented divestitures. At the same time pressure is mounting on them to better protect consumers, and also to promote additional societal interests such as furthering sustainability goals. And legislatures are actively granting them new and stronger intervention powers. This panel will focus on strategies to manage the consequent timing and outcome uncertainty for companies in the merger review process, especially in cross-border deals when multiple authorities assess the transaction.