The transaction notification regime under the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) is now over a year old. To date, intervention levels are low. But assessing whether a filing is required, and gathering the extensive...more
Regulatory intervention levels are rising. The concerns of antitrust authorities and foreign investment (FDI) regulators are evolving and can be unpredictable. Allocation of merger control execution risk in deal documents...more
3/5/2025
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
European Commission ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Sellers
Speeding up review periods remained a priority for antitrust authorities outside the U.S. They did this through formal rule changes or adjustments in practice. But the increasing complexity of the issues raised by some deals,...more
Tech sector deals are seeing rising mortality rates. AI partnerships are moving up the authorities’ agenda for scrutiny and enforcement. Overall, however, antitrust intervention in 2024 once again focused on transport, energy...more
2/28/2025
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Competition ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Mergers ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Technology Sector ,
UK
Antitrust authorities continue to make use of powers to scrutinize deals falling below merger control filing thresholds. Many that don’t have that ability, want it. The European Commission (EC) remains the frontrunner in...more
Merger control and foreign investment hurdles contributed to a challenging 2024 for M&A. 2025 looks more promising, with pro-business agendas and regulatory easing in key jurisdictions expected to fuel a surge in dealmaking...more
Chief executive of the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Sarah Cardell, has announced that the authority will launch a review of its approach to merger remedies in early 2025.
Most notably, this will include a...more
In May 2009, the European Commission (EC) fined Intel EUR1.06 billion for abusing its dominant position in the x86 microprocessor market (CPUs). The EC concluded that Intel had granted anticompetitive loyalty rebates to...more
Antitrust authorities continue to use powers to review deals that fall below merger control filing thresholds. For merging parties this means uncertainty. It is crucial that the possibility of review – including a...more
2/28/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Competition Authorities ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Investment ,
Member State ,
Mergers ,
Private Equity Funds ,
Threshold Requirements
The European Commission (EC) has imposed a fine of around EUR432 million on genomics company Illumina for closing its acquisition of blood-based cancer test developer GRAIL before the conclusion of the EC’s merger control...more
7/19/2023
/ Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
EU ,
EUMR ,
European Commission ,
European Merger Control Regulation ,
Gun-Jumping ,
Life Sciences ,
Merger Controls ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
UK
On 1 June 2023, the European Commission (EC) adopted revised Horizontal Block Exemption Regulations on research & development agreements (R&D BER) and specialisation agreements (Specialisation BER) (jointly referred to as...more
6/14/2023
/ Algorithms ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Competition ,
Cooperation Agreement ,
Data-Sharing ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Exemptions ,
Horizontal Agreements ,
National Security Agency (NSA) ,
Popular ,
Sustainability ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
In a landmark ruling, the EU General Court (GC) has confirmed the European Commission (EC)’s decision to accept a referral request from France (and other Member States) for the assessment of gene-sequencing firm Illumina’s...more
In a landmark ruling, the EU General Court (GC) has confirmed the European Commission (EC)’s decision to accept a referral request from several Member States for the assessment of gene-sequencing firm Illumina’s acquisition...more
On 10 May 2022, the European Commission (EC) published the revised Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER), together with the accompanying revised Guidelines on Vertical Restraints (Vertical Guidelines), which will replace...more
The General Court has largely upheld the European Commission’s decision to fine Altice a record amount for breaching procedural merger control rules in relation to its acquisition of PT Portugal. The ruling will likely...more
The European Commission (EC) has published its draft Digital Markets Act (DMA), which will introduce broad reforms to the application of EU competition law to ‘gatekeepers’ in the digital sector. The proposals set out...more
Under State aid rules, UK and EEA Member State governments may not generally provide selective assistance to businesses without prior approval from the European Commission (EC). This includes assistance in the form of...more
Merger review processes are being impacted worldwide as merger control authorities adapt to take account of the consequences of Covid 19. While critical transactions are likely to be reviewed, as far as possible, in...more
Adverse economic or social conditions have not historically tended to affect the general application and enforcement of antitrust rules. This remains the overall position in the circumstances of Covid-19, with many antitrust...more
Under State aid rules, UK and EEA Member State governments may not generally provide selective assistance to businesses without prior approval from the European Commission (EC). This includes assistance in the form of...more
Under State aid rules, UK and EEA Member State governments may not generally provide selective assistance to businesses without prior approval from the European Commission (EC). This includes assistance in the form of...more
11/13/2020
/ Agribusiness ,
Airlines ,
Competition ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Relief Measures ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) ,
State Aid
On 6 March 2020, the European Commission (Commission) cleared the acquisition of joint control over Infrastructure Wireless Italiane (INWIT) by the two largest Italian telcos, Telecom Italia (TIM) and Vodafone, which will...more
The UK has well-established domestic antitrust and merger control regimes, enforced by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
As an EU Member State, however, where a deal met EU merger control thresholds the CMA – in...more
The European Commission (Commission) has the power to order companies suspected of engaging in anti-competitive behaviour to stop their conduct pending a final decision in an investigation – so-called “interim measures”....more
The European Commission (Commission) has the power to order companies suspected of engaging in anti-competitive behaviour to stop their conduct pending a final decision in an investigation – so-called “interim measures”. The...more