On September 3, 2024, the European Union’s Court of Justice (ECJ) issued its highly anticipated judgment in the Illumina/Grail case (C-611/22 P and C-625/22 P) concerning the European Commission’s (EC’s) power to review...more
The Court of Justice of the EU (the Court) has overturned the General Court’s judgment in Illumina/Grail, effectively putting an end to the EC’s revised Article 22 policy approach for below-threshold mergers. Under this...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
UNITED STATES - - Agencies Revisiting Consummated Mergers - What’s old is new again, as agencies are increasingly scrutinizing consummated mergers from years past. In May 2024, the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Antitrust...more
Antitrust and Competition - The European Commission Approves Plan to Unwind a Completed Transaction in the Early Cancer Detection Sector - On 12 April 2024, the European Commission (Commission) approved the plan to unwind a...more
In a significant development for French merger control, on May 2, 2024 the French Competition Authority applied the jurisprudence laid down in the recent Towercast case to an alleged anti-competitive agreement matter in the...more
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
In a much-anticipated opinion, Advocate General Nicholas Emiliou (AG) has advised the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to set aside the General Court (GC)’s Illumina/GRAIL judgment. The AG is of the view that the European...more
In yet another twist in the Illumina/Grail saga, Advocate General Emiliou has challenged the European Commission's approach to calling-in certain non-reportable transactions for review. The final judgment will be delivered by...more
IN THIS FEBRUARY 2024 ISSUE - UNITED STATES - New Merger Guidelines Released - The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and US Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) issued their updated Merger Guidelines on...more
2024 is shaping up to be a year of significant change in Brussels. European Parliamentary elections in June will be followed by the appointment of a new Commission in the autumn....more
The Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) establishes a new regime, enforced by the European Commission (EC), to regulate subsidies granted by non-EU countries to businesses active in the EU that could distort competition in EU...more
The European Commission (EC) recently adopted a package of measures with the aim of further simplifying its procedures for reviewing concentrations under the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR). The new rules entered into force on...more
Advocate General Anthony Michael Collins has proposed that the European Court of Justice uphold the General Court's Altice judgment. In his Opinion, he considered that the entering into certain types of pre-closing covenants...more
The long-awaited European Court of Justice's judgment in Towercast confirmed that national competition authorities (and national courts) can apply abuse of dominance rules to mergers that did not trigger EU and national...more
In our super-connected age, we are inundated with information. It can be difficult to select what is really relevant to one’s business. The purpose of this Review is to provide legal counsel and their teams easy...more
The European Commission has published a Frequently Asked Questions and Answers ("Q&A") document which aims to provide practical information with respect to the application of its recently revised Article 22 referral policy....more
The European Commission’s (EC) decision to block Illumina’s acquisition of Grail marks the dawn of a new era for acquisitions of startups with innovation potential. This case involved many “firsts”: It is the first time that...more
ANTITRUST AND COMPETITION - Significant Changes to the Italian Antitrust Regime - On 5 August 2022, the Italian Parliament adopted law no. 118, which entered into force on 27 August 2022 (2021 Italian Competition Law). The...more
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
The EU General Court (“General Court”) has confirmed that the European Commission (“Commission”) can examine deals that do not trigger merger control thresholds in the EU or any EEA Member State following a referral request...more
In Illumina v Commission, the General Court has confirmed the authority of the European Commission (EC) under Article 22 EU Merger Regulation (EUMR) to examine a transaction that does not have a European dimension, but which...more
The EU General Court (“General Court”) has confirmed that the European Commission (“Commission”) can examine deals that do not trigger merger control thresholds in the EU or any EEA Member State[1] following a referral...more
OVERVIEW - On 6 May 2022, the European Commission (Commission) published the draft revised Implementing Regulation (Draft Implementing Regulation) and the Notice on Simplified Procedure (Draft Notice) for the EU Merger...more
The EU is concerned about subsidies granted by non-EU countries that could distort competition in EU markets. In May 2021 it published a proposal for a regulation (the Foreign Subsidies Regulation) that would introduce,...more