Does the Federal Trade Commission have the power to restore the status quo in a merger or acquisition case?

We express no opinion as to whether there should be an exception to the general rule of mootness in cases where an appellate court can feasibly restore the status quo, because this is not such a case. Whether or not all the parties are before the court, where a merger has been consummated, restoration of the status quo may be impossible. See, e.g., FTC v. Exxon Corp., 636 F.2d 1336, 1342-43 (D.C.Cir.1980) ("Mergers and acquisitions are often followed by a commingling of assets and other substantial changes in the structures of the enterprise involved. Once those changes occur, it is often impossible ... to compel a return to the status quo, and the legality of the challenged merger or acquisition may become essentially a moot question.").