Energy & Utilities Law › Mergers & Acquisitions › Antitrust & Trade Regulation

Glencore’s Long March to Take Over Xstrata

At long last, Glencore has overcome the final regulatory hurdle and secured the approval of China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) to acquire the 66 percent of Xstrata that it does not already own. But not before agreeing to...more

REGULATORY: EU Competition Law: European Commission clears the acquisition of TNK-BP by Rosneft

The European Commission (“Commission”) has approved without conditions Rosneft’s US$ 54.8 billion acquisition of TNK-BP. The Commission’s 8 March approval came two months after the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (“FAS”)...more

REGULATORY: EU Competition Law: Competition Law and the Energy Sector – EU, UK, and Beyond; Looking Ahead to 2013

Since it is early in 2013 (according to the Gregorian calendar), this competition law update considers possible competition law developments in the year ahead. Rather than a “Janus” approach of rounding up last year, it...more

REGULATORY - Competition Law/Russia: Russia Gives Go-Ahead to Rosneft’s Acquisition of TNK-BP

The Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (“FAS”) has cleared Rosneft’s US$ 55 billion acquisition of TNK-BP, subject to divestments and conduct remedies. The deal will reduce the number of major oil companies in Russia from...more

FTC Report Shows that Oil Sector and Pharmaceutical Sector Mergers Are Under the Antitrust Spotlight

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued a data report on January 4 regarding its horizontal merger investigation and enforcement action record over the past fifteen years. The report shows, sector by-sector, the...more

REGULATORY: EU Competition Law: Twenty Million Euro: The Price for Merging Without European Commission Approval by Suzanne Rab

The European Union’s second-highest court upheld a fine of EUR 20 million (approximately USD 26 million) against Electrabel (a division of GDF Suez) for early implementation of a merger without notifying and seeking prior...more

FTC Defers to State Resolution of Competitive Concerns Arising Out of Acquisition of Natural Gas Assets

On November 7, 2012, the Federal Trade Commission announced it had closed its investigation of Hilcorp Alaska LLC's proposed $375M acquisition of Marathon Oil Company's Cook Inlet, Alaska natural gas production, storage, and...more

REGULATORY: EU Competition Law: UK Competition Commission Clears Water Merger – Unconditionally for First Time by Suzanne Rab

Owning and buying privatised network utilities in the UK raises regulatory issues, yet there continues to be interest in investing in them. On 31 May 2012, the UK Competition Commission (“CC”) approved the acquisition by...more

Burma/Myanmar Sanctions Lifted - New Opportunities for Canadian Business

Most of Canada's economic sanctions against Burma (Myanmar) have been repealed effective today. Enacted in 2007 and touted as being among the most aggressive in the world, Canada's sanctions and export controls prohibited...more

FERC Reaffirms its Policies on Analyzing Horizontal Market Power

In an order issued on February 16, 2012 (February 16 Order), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) reaffirmed its policies regarding horizontal market power analyses under Sections 203 and 205 of the Federal...more

FERC Reaffirms Merger Policy; Does Not Adopt DOJ/FTC 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines

Public utilities could face different levels of scrutiny in merger reviews before the U.S. Federal Energy Regulation Commission, and the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (the Antitrust...more

REGULATORY: Revised Department of Justice / Federal Trade Commission Guidelines -- 16 Months Later

A little over 16 months ago, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued revised Horizontal Merger Guidelines (http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/guidelines/hmg-2010.html) -- the first major...more

REGULATORY: Converging On Federal Reviews Of Electricity Mergers

Although the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice have in large part concurrent jurisdiction over electricity mergers, the two agencies have coordinated little in their review of...more

Energy Newsletter - November 2011

In This Issue: DISPUTE RESOLUTION Business Litigation - Texas Supreme Court Ruling May Slow the Installation of Certain Pipelines Texas confers upon private pipeline developers the power of eminent...more

FERC Imposes Conditions on Proposed Duke - Progress Merger

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an order on September 30, 2011 that conditionally approved the proposed merger of Duke Energy and Progress Energy, but stated that issues regarding competition must be resolved...more

New Economic Sanctions Against Syria

On May 24, 2011, the Canadian government announced the immediate imposition of economic sanctions against Syria. The measures include an asset freeze against persons associated with the current Syrian regime and entities...more

Communications Antitrust Advisory: SBC-AT&T and Verizon-MCI Merger Review Ends - Not with Bang, but with Whimper

Communications Antitrust Advisory: SBC-AT&T and Verizon-MCI Merger Review Ends - Not with Bang, but with Whimper

On January 30, 2005, SBC agreed to acquire AT&T. Two weeks later, on February 14, 2005, Verizon agreed to acquire MCI. After its investigation, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division ("DOJ" or "Antitrust Division")...more