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
9/6/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
EU ,
EU Merger Directive ,
EUMR ,
European Commission ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Global Dealmaking ,
Member State ,
Mergers ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
M&A in the agricultural sector received a boost in the first quarter of 2024. Deal value rose by more than 600 percent year on year from US$820 million in the first quarter of 2023 to US$5.87 billion in the first three months...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
On 9 November 2023, the European Court of Justice ("ECJ") confirmed that the European Commission ("EC") was right to impose two separate fines on Altice for breaching standstill rules and failing to notify its acquisition of...more
Merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions are facing ever longer regulatory reviews and an increasingly uncertain outcome. Less than a decade ago, it seemed we were on a clear path to substantial international convergence,...more
On July 6, 2023, the German Parliament passed the 11th amendment to the German Act Against Restrictions of Competition ("ARC"), substantially expanding the Federal Cartel Office's ("FCO") enforcement powers.
The reform...more
The European Commission ("EC") has published its final revised Horizontal Cooperation Guidelines and adopted new R&D and Specialisation Block Exemption Regulations (HBERs). The EC's aim is to provide more guidance for...more
The German takeover market is declining and has shown clear signs of having been affected by the current economic and geopolitical environment. The number of takeovers and the total offer volume have both fallen...more
6/20/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Delisting ,
EU ,
Germany ,
Global Market ,
Investment ,
Mergers ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Shareholders ,
Stock Markets ,
Takeovers
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
On 18 May 2022, the EU General Court (GC) upheld the European Commission's (EC) € 28 million fine imposed on Canon for gun-jumping in the context of a (somewhat unique) so-called warehousing structure. The judgment confirms...more
Governments around the world are tightening their scrutiny of foreign direct investments -
Recent years have seen an upswing in foreign direct investment (FDI) reviews—a trend that has only accelerated sharply since the...more
2/9/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
CFIUS ,
Denmark ,
EU ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Investment ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Mergers ,
Switzerland ,
UK
Foreign direct investment (FDI) reviews have become an increasingly critical issue in cross-border M&A transactions. Although many countries continue to encourage inbound investment, Taiwanese businesses and investors should...more
9/29/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
CFIUS ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
EU ,
EU Screening Regulation ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
International Regulatory Standards ,
Investors ,
Mergers ,
Taiwan
There have been a number of developments in merger control in 2020 and Q1 2021. Some are related to the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, while others are borne out of the ambitions and changes sought by individual...more
In the midst of the Homeric battle between Veolia and its takeover target, Suez, the European Commission rejects Suez's gun-jumping claim and provides further clarifications on the scope of the exemption to the standstill...more
At a time when the European Union and many Member States have just unveiled their hydrogen strategy, the French Competition Authority takes the lead in delivering the very first analysis of the emerging hydrogen sector in a...more
2/12/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
Competition ,
Electricity ,
Energy Sector ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
France ,
French Competition Authority ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Hydrogen Power ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Renewable Energy
In a regime undergoing rapid change, investment screening is currently "light," with red tape increasing for European inbound investment -
While there is still no standalone foreign direct investment (FDI) screening at...more
11/10/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
EU ,
EU Screening Regulation ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
Member State ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
National Security ,
National Security Review Proceedings
A recent speech1 by the European Commission's (the Commission) Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager (the Commissioner), on the 30th anniversary of the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR), praised it as having created "a...more
On 17 June 2020, the European Commission published a White Paper seeking views on three powerful new tools to control the acquisitions and activities of foreign subsidised companies in the EU:1 (i) a general ex post control...more
6/19/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Public Consultations ,
Screening Procedures ,
WTO
Four years after the European Commission (“EC”) thwarted Hutchison’s attempt to consolidate the UK mobile telecoms market through its planned acquisition of O2, the General Court yesterday dealt a crushing blow to the...more
On April 28, 2020, the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) published a draft for the 15th amendment to the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance (AWV). The changes are expected to be effective shortly after...more
On January 31, 2020, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) presented a draft law amending the Foreign Trade and Payments Act (AWG-E) and forwarded it to selected trade associations for their comments....more
2/13/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
EU ,
EU Screening Regulation ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
Germany ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
National Security ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Public Comment ,
Technology Sector ,
Trade Associations