In a much-anticipated ruling of 3 September 2024, the EU's highest court threw out the policy that the European Commission has been pursuing since 2021, by which it asserted jurisdiction to review so-called “killer...more
The U.S. agencies concluded 11 significant merger investigations in the first half of 2024—just one shy of the total concluded in all of 2023. Activity has picked up considerably since last year but is still below the...more
8/7/2024
/ Abandonment ,
Consent Decrees ,
EU ,
EUMR ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Investigations ,
Mergers ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement ,
The Clayton Act
Key Takeaways -
- As FDI regimes proliferate and mature around the globe, governments are taking an ever-more expansive view of the concept of “national security” to include more than military and defense interests, which...more
5/14/2024
/ Australia ,
Belgium ,
China ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
EU ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
France ,
Germany ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Ireland ,
Legislative Agendas ,
National Security ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Russia ,
Singapore ,
UK ,
United States
Applying its recent re-interpretation of Article 22 of the European Union Merger Regulation (“EUMR”), which enables Member States to refer to the European Commission (the “Commission”) transactions that do not reach either EU...more
The U.S. agencies announced the conclusion of six significant merger investigations in Q1 2024, double the number seen last quarter. This marks the end of six quarters of three or fewer significant investigations. In line...more
After over 25 years, the European Commission (the “Commission”) has revised the guidance on market definition in antitrust and merger control investigations. The new guidance, most notably, reflects developments relating to...more
Since 2020, our antitrust/competition practice has expanded the Dechert Antitrust Merger Investigation Timing Tracker (DAMITT) to include Germany and France. This supplements DAMITT’s U.S. and EU coverage with comprehensive...more
3/29/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Competition ,
Competition Authorities ,
Enforcement ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Cartel Office (the FCO) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
France ,
German Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB) ,
Germany ,
Interest Rates ,
Investigations ,
Jurisdiction ,
Merger Controls ,
Shareholders ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
The European Commission (EC) has published a report on competition law enforcement in the EU's pharmaceutical sector during the 2018-2022 period. The report, released on 26 January, provides detailed insights into the actions...more
Only 12 significant merger investigations concluded in 2023—a drop of 40 percent from just last year and by far the lowest in DAMITT history. This observed and verifiable drop sharply contrasts with recent reports that...more
United States -
All significant U.S. merger investigations concluded in either a complaint or an abandoned transaction. Four of the last five quarters have now concluded without any consent agreements, demonstrating the...more
All significant U.S. merger investigations concluded in either a complaint or an abandoned transaction. Three of four quarters over the last year have now concluded without any consent agreements, demonstrating the agencies’...more
The European Commission has published new guidance and related regulations concerning cooperation among competitors, under Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). These replace instruments...more
6/14/2023
/ Algorithms ,
Climate Change ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Infrastructure ,
Safe Harbors ,
Sustainability ,
Technology Sector ,
Telecommunications ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
In France and Germany, the trend is towards a drastic fall in significant investigations, combined with an exceptional duration of these investigations. Meanwhile, in both jurisdictions the average outcome shows an increasing...more
Sixty percent of significant investigations concluded with a complaint or abandoned transaction in 2022. This shatters last year’s record of 37 percent. The 10 complaints filed in 2022 are also a DAMITT record. Those are...more
Key Facts -
United States -
• Only three significant merger investigations concluded in Q3 2022. All three investigations ended with a complaint or an abandoned transaction. For the first time in more than a decade,...more
On 12 October the Digital Markets Act (DMA)1 was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The DMA will enter into force on 1 November 2022 and will apply as of 2 May 2023. The DMA introduces European-wide ex...more
10/26/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Competition ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Digital Marketplace ,
Digital Markets Strategy ,
Digital Platforms ,
Enforcement ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Member State ,
Mergers ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Sanctions
On June 30, 2022, the EU institutions reached a political agreement on the text for the FSR that will give far-reaching powers to the EC to control subsidies provided by non-EU governments to businesses active in the EU....more
In both our DAMITT 2021 Report and our Q1 2022 Report, we warned that parties to transactions subject to significant merger investigations were more likely to see the FTC or DOJ sue to block their deal or push them to abandon...more
7/26/2022
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
EU ,
European Merger Control Regulation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Government Investigations ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Merger Controls
In a recent high-profile judgment, the EU’s General Court confirmed that the European Commission (“EC”) can, upon referral by a national competition authority in the European Economic Area (“EEA”), review deals that do not...more
The national security and foreign direct investment (“FDI”) review landscape around the world is evolving rapidly. A pre-pandemic trend of active FDI reviews in countries around the world has gained momentum and resulted in...more
In the U.S., “significant” merger investigations include Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act reportable transactions for which the result of the investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or the Antitrust Division of the...more
4/21/2022
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merger Controls ,
Settlement Agreements
For the second time, our antitrust/competition practice has expanded the Dechert Antitrust Merger Investigation Timing Tracker (DAMITT) to include Germany and France. This supplements DAMITT’s U.S. and EU coverage with...more
2/7/2022
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Cartels ,
Competition ,
Competition Authorities ,
EU ,
Federal Cartel Office (the FCO) ,
France ,
Germany ,
Government Investigations ,
Merger Controls ,
Regulatory Standards
The number of significant U.S. merger investigations concluded in the first year of the Biden administration was in line with the average observed during the Trump administration....more
Key Facts - United States - Dechert has yet to see an increase in concluded significant U.S. merger investigations despite a surge in merger filings that began in the fall of 2020. Instead, we continue to see a decrease in...more
Key facts - United States - Despite Big Tech headlines, the percentage of significant U.S. merger investigations involving technology companies was below the average for the last decade. By contrast, merger investigations in...more