United States -
2024 ended with 17 concluded significant merger investigations, the second-lowest total in DAMITT’s 14-year history, behind only the record-low 12 concluded in 2023 also under the Biden administration....more
1/31/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Investigations ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers
66% of PE firms globally expect increased scrutiny from antitrust, FDI and other regulatory authorities to have a negative impact on their dealmaking plans over the next 12 months.
Rising regulatory scrutiny continues to...more
11/12/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Asia Pacific ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EMEA ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Healthcare ,
Mergers ,
New Amendments ,
Private Equity Firms ,
Technology Sector
We had previously questioned whether the new approach to Article 22 EUMR followed by the EC would herald a new era in EU merger control, leading to an increased number of deals being reviewed, and more importantly an...more
10/31/2024
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Government Investigations ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merger Controls ,
Regulatory Requirements
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 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
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
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
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