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
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
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)
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
SEC Chair Gensler Indicates Commission is Looking to Update SEC’s Regulation S-P -
On September 28, 2022, Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or the “Commission”) Chairman Gary Gensler appeared via video at the...more
10/14/2022
/ Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
Algorithms ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Biden Administration ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
EU ,
EU-US Privacy Shield ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
Gramm-Leach-Blilely Act ,
Hackers ,
Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) ,
International Data Transfers ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Companies ,
Privacy Framework ,
Regulation S-P ,
Request For Information ,
Right of Access ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Subject Access Request (SAR) ,
Title V ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
Uber ,
UK ,
UK GDPR
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 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
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
EDPB Issues Draft Guidance on International Data Transfers -
On November 18, 2021, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) published draft guidance on the interaction between the GDPR’s transfer provisions set out in...more
12/10/2021
/ Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Management ,
Data Protection ,
EU ,
EU Data Protection Laws ,
European Commission ,
European Data Protection Board (EDPB) ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
International Data Transfers ,
Personal Data ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Standard Contractual Clauses
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
On 10 February 2021, over two and a half years after the anticipated adoption of the e-Privacy Regulation, European Member States have agreed to a revised text. Portending a potential break in the three-year impasse, the...more
2/17/2021
/ Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
e-Privacy Directive ,
EU ,
EU Data Protection Laws ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Member State ,
Personal Data ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements
The Dechert Antitrust Merger Investigation Timing Tracker (DAMITT) is a quarterly release from Dechert LLP reporting on trends in significant merger control investigations in the United States (U.S.) and European Union...more
10/29/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
EU Merger Directive ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Joe Biden ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Trump Administration ,
UK Brexit ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
United States
Key Takeaways -
- Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) controls are proliferating around the globe. Since the pandemic, “health” has become a particular focus.
- Several countries have adapted their existing FDI rules, or...more
7/29/2020
/ Australia ,
Austria ,
Biotechnology ,
Canada ,
CFIUS ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Czech Republic ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
France ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hungary ,
Italy ,
Japan ,
Medical Devices ,
Member State ,
Mergers ,
New Zealand ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Poland ,
Slovenia ,
Spain ,
Threshold Requirements ,
UK ,
Voting Rights
....The Dechert Antitrust Merger Investigation Timing Tracker (DAMITT) is a quarterly release from Dechert LLP reporting on trends in significant merger control investigations in the United States (U.S.) and European Union...more
7/25/2020
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
EU Merger Directive ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Health Care Providers ,
Merger Controls ,
Merger Remedies ,
Mergers ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Phase II ,
Popular ,
Vertical Mergers
The EU Foreign Direct Investment Regulation will be in full force from October 11, 2020. We expect it will radically alter the dynamics of foreign investment review in Europe. Any non-EU investor and any EU target company...more
5/18/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Member State ,
Mergers ,
National Security Review Proceedings ,
New Regulations ,
Non-EU Investors ,
UK Brexit
Fast Facts -
United States
- The COVID-19 pandemic has yet to slow U.S. merger enforcement, with deal reviews for Q1 2020 averaging 11.1 months in length, slightly below the 11.9 month average for CY 2019.
- The...more
Strong signal that the EU wants to protect its critical businesses and that the European Commission’s “advisory” role under the EU FDI Regulation will be significant .
Key Takeaways -
In response to concerns raised by...more
Fast Facts -
United States -
- The DOJ and FTC concluded 26 significant U.S. merger investigations in 2019 – similar to the level of activity from 2011-2014 under the Obama administration but trailing the activity...more
2/1/2020
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Blocked Mergers ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Merger Control Regulation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Controls ,
Merger Remedies ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Phase II ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
United States