Thai Union Frozen Products is facing a rigorous antitrust review as it attempts to acquire Bumble Bee Foods thanks to its high market share, a strict regulatory climate and the consolidated nature of the canned tuna industry, lawyers told Undercurrent News last week.The Department of Justice (DOJ) has likely already begun reviewing the implications of a tie-up between Bumble Bee and Thai Union-owned Chicken of the Sea. A well-placed tuna industry source told Undercurrent the DOJ has contacted the company to discuss the deal.The combined Bumble Bee-Chicken of the Sea entity's market share -- estimated at 48% -- would be high “enough that the enforcement agency handling the matter will investigate it thoroughly,” Morris Bloom, an attorney at antitrust firm Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider, told Undercurrent.Together, the two would overtake Starkist, owned by South Korean seafood giant Dongwon Enterprise, as the largest player in shelf stable tuna in the US market. Bumble Bee is already the biggest shelf stable company in North America.Jeffrey Jacobovitz, a litigation partner at Arnall Golden Gregory and the co-chair of the firm’s antitrust group, agreed the deal is likely to face a tough review, if for no other reason than the current regulatory climate.“In terms of the overall competitive outlook of the FTC [Federal Trade Commission], they have been more aggressive,” he said.The FTC’s filing to block the Sysco-US Foods deal for antitrust reasons -- which Sysco is challenging -- heightened awareness of increasing regulatory strictness surrounding deals, investors told the Wall Street Journal recently.The FTC's aggressive approach is no different from the climate at the nation's other antitrust enforcement agency, the DOJ.“The DOJ under Bill Baer [DOJ assistant attorney general] has been aggressive as well,\ Jacobovitz said.In fact