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
The consumer and retail industry has experienced a rapid growth in the use of new technologies, as both online businesses and brick-and-mortar sellers converge into multi-channel players and compete for customers and for...more
3/21/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Buyers ,
Consumers ,
Cybersecurity ,
Global Market ,
Internet Retailers ,
Investment ,
Offerings ,
Online Marketplace ,
Popular ,
Retail Market ,
Sellers ,
Technology Sector
The UK antitrust authority, the CMA, has recently published a guide for employers on how to avoid breaching UK antitrust law in labour markets. This publication signals the UK's intent to ratchet up antitrust scrutiny of...more
3/20/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
No-Poaching ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
UK ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
United States
On 8 November 2022, the European Commission launched a public consultation on its draft revised Market Definition Notice. The new Notice provides detailed explanatory guidance based on recent case law of the European...more
In an unprecedented double-strike, the German government recently blocked two transactions pertaining to Chinese investments in German semiconductor facilities. Just two weeks before, the cabinet had already intervened...more
11/17/2022
/ Canada ,
CFIUS ,
China ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Germany ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
National Security ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Semiconductors ,
UK
Advocate General Kokott has found that the General Court erred in law in requiring the European Commission to show anti-competitive effects of a merger with “strong probability” and that the scope of its judicial review was...more
10/28/2022
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Competition ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Investment ,
Judicial Review ,
Mergers ,
Standard of Proof ,
Telecommunications ,
UK
Advocate General Juliane Kokott has proposed that the EU Court of Justice should find that competition authorities have the power to apply Article 102 TFEU to corporate transactions that are not reportable, and test under...more
On 18 May and 22 June 2022, the EU General Court upheld two European Commission prohibition decisions. Both judgments endorsed the European Commission's assessment of the mergers at issue, recognising a broad margin of...more
9/19/2022
/ Appeals ,
Buyers ,
Competition ,
Declaratory Judgments ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
European Merger Control Regulation ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Remedies ,
Standard of Proof ,
Standard of Review
On 1 September, the European Commission (EC) issued its Second Annual Report under Article 5(4) of the Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) Screening Regulation along with an EC Staff Working Document (SWD). The Report covers the...more
On 13 July 2022, the General Court of the European Union confirmed the European Commission's jurisdiction to review the Illumina/Grail transaction following a referral pursuant to Article 22 EUMR. The judgment is an important...more
7/18/2022
/ Admissibility ,
EU ,
EUMR ,
European Commission ,
European Merger Control Regulation ,
General Court of the European Union (GCEU) ,
Infrastructure ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Jurisdiction ,
Killer Acquisitions ,
Merger Reviews
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
On 1 March 2022, the European Commission ("EC") published for consultation two draft revised horizontal block exemption regulations ("HBERs") on research & development ("R&D") and specialisation agreements, as well as draft...more
On 23 February 2022, the EU's General Court (GC) dismissed a €1.7 billion claim for damages brought by United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) against the European Commission (EC).1 UPS sought compensation for the losses resulting...more
3/3/2022
/ Break-Up Fee ,
Damages ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Infringement ,
Lost Profits ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Right of Defence ,
TNT ,
UPS
As part of its review of the EU antitrust rules governing vertical agreements, the European Commission (EC) has published for consultation a draft new section of its Vertical Guidelines, which contains proposed guidance on...more
2/16/2022
/ Antitrust Division ,
Distributors ,
Draft Guidance ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Exemptions ,
Proposed Rules ,
Safe Harbors ,
Suppliers ,
Supply Chain ,
Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER)
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
The German Bundeskartellamt and the Austrian Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde have updated their joint guidance on the application of their respective transaction value thresholds for mandatory merger notifications (the "Guidelines")...more
On 1 January 2022, the second amendment to the German Regulation for Critical Infrastructure ("Critical Infrastructure Regulation"/BSI-KritisV) entered into force. It will broaden the definition of Critical Infrastructures,...more
1/3/2022
/ EFTA ,
Energy Sector ,
EU ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Germany ,
Healthcare ,
Infrastructure ,
Insurance Industry ,
Software ,
Telecommunications ,
Traffic Laws ,
Transportation Industry
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy continues to tighten FDI control, but the investment climate remains liberal in principle -
In Germany, the investment climate remains liberal in principle. Nevertheless,...more
Member States are introducing or expanding investment screening regimes, and the European Commission is now playing an active role -
While there is no standalone foreign direct investment (FDI) screening at the EU level, the...more
12/27/2021
/ EU ,
European Commission ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Investors ,
Member State ,
Popular ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Screening Procedures ,
Threshold Requirements
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Competition (the “GAC”) has been ramping up its merger control activities and recently—at least initially—blocked its first transaction, signaling plans for more active...more
The European Commission (EC) issued its first Annual Report pursuant to Article 5(3) of the Screening Regulation on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the EU on 23 November 2021. The Report provides transparency around the...more
11/29/2021
/ Annual Reports ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
EU ,
EU Screening Regulation ,
European Commission ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
Investors ,
Member State ,
Popular ,
Transparency
In a speech on 22 October 2021, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager revealed that the European Commission was planning a series of dawn raids for the months to come. She highlighted that the European Commission is...more
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
On 9 July 2021, the European Commission (EC) published for public consultation a draft revised Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and draft revised guidelines on vertical restraints (Vertical Guidelines). The EC has...more
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