The European Union’s Court of Justice (“ECJ”) went into the 2023 winter break in style, publishing a hat-trick of judgments (hereafter referred to as SuperLeague, ISU, and Royal Antwerp) regarding the application of...more
2/8/2024
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
EU ,
Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) ,
Football ,
International Olympic Committee (IOC) ,
Olympics ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Sports ,
Sports Authority ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
Save for the Commission’s decision in M.8792 (Tele2 NL/T-Mobile NL) which cleared the acquisition of Tele2 NL by T-Mobile NL without remedies, the Commission has historically blocked or accepted divestment/behavioural...more
8/4/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Judicial Review ,
Mergers ,
Standard of Proof ,
T-Mobile ,
Telecommunications ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill (“DMCC”) introduces a framework to govern ‘big tech’ in the UK, similar in aim to the EU’s Digital Markets Act (“DMA”). The bill is currently at report stage in the House of...more
8/2/2023
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Digital Marketplace ,
Digital Markets Strategy ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Pending Legislation ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
The ECJ’s recent preliminary ruling in C-211/22 - Super Bock Bebidas (“Super Bock”) is significant for businesses and competition authorities. It is well-established that categorisation of conduct as a ‘by object’...more
7/19/2023
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Competition ,
Competition Authorities ,
Contract Formation ,
Distributors ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Infringement ,
Member State ,
Price-Fixing ,
Restraint of Trade ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
On 16 March 2023, the ECJ published its judgment in Towercast (C-449/21), confirming that Article 102 TFEU (which prohibits abuses of a dominant market position) may apply to transactions which fall below national and EU...more
In this article we discuss the evolving global attention towards a less common theory of harm: common ownership. We conclude by assessing the notably bullish approach taken by the Hellenic Competition Commission (the “HCC”),...more
3/17/2023
/ Common Ownership ,
Competition ,
Competition Authorities ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Markets Strategy ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Greece ,
Interlocking Directorate ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Private Equity ,
Shareholders ,
The Clayton Act ,
Vertical Mergers