The Informed Board Podcast | Will the EU’s Focus on Foreign Subsidies Make It More Difficult To Acquire European Businesses?
On February 8, 2024, the European Commission (Commission) adopted its revised Market Definition Notice (Notice), replacing a version that was nearly 30 years old. The Notice is not binding, but it provides guidance on how the...more
The Situation: Over the last year, the Italian Competition Bill (Law 287/1990) has undergone a significant number of amendments aimed at strengthening the enforcement powers of the Italian Competition Authority ("ICA"). At...more
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION PUBLISHES FINAL IMPLEMENTING REGULATION ON PROCEEDINGS PURSUANT TO THE FOREIGN SUBSIDIES REGULATION - On July 10, 2023, the European Commission (the “Commission”) published its final regulation for...more
The EU’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) was adopted in late 2022. Its stated aim is to combat the effects of competitive distortions caused by foreign subsidies in the EU internal market and thereby level the playing...more
The EU Court of Justice in the CK Telecoms1 ruling has addressed key questions of EU merger control, including the standard of proof for the European Commission to challenge a merger, the assessment of mergers below the...more
The European Commission (EC) has imposed a fine of around EUR432 million on genomics company Illumina for closing its acquisition of blood-based cancer test developer GRAIL before the conclusion of the EC’s merger control...more
The EU’s new regime for tackling foreign subsidies will kick in on 12 July 2023. On 10 July 2023, the European Commission (Commission) published the final text of the Implementing Regulation (Final IR) on proceedings...more
On 10 July 2023, the European Commission (EC) adopted its long awaited Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) implementing rules (the “Implementing Regulation”). The Implementing Regulation lays down, inter alia, the timings and...more
The EU Commission has adopted a legislative package to further streamline the simplified merger control procedures within the European Union - On April 20, 2023, the EU Commission (Commission) adopted and published a...more
As we enter 2023, the European Commission is redoubling its efforts to scrutinise transactions on a variety of bases. The focus has been on the digital sector for some time, but the impact of the Commission’s expanding...more
The European Union’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR), published on December 23, 2022, entered into force on January 12, 2023. The FSR will apply with most of its provisions six months after its entry into force—i.e., on...more
A new regulation to control foreign subsidies could entail more complex, costly, and time-consuming deal clearances. European M&A is set to become more complex after the entry into force of the Foreign Subsidies...more
A new regulation to control foreign subsidies could result in more complex, costly, and time-consuming M&A clearance processes. European M&A is set to become more complex after the European Parliament and European Council...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
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
In a judgment dated 13 July 2022 (T-227/21), the General Court of the European Union (the “General Court” or the “Court”) upheld the decision of the European Commission (the “Commission”) whereby the latter accepted to assert...more
If you (i) receive some form of financial support from foreign (non-EU) governments, and (ii) have activities or are planning to acquire a business in the EU, then you will want to read on....more
Overview of the FSR - The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union ("TFEU") prohibits any form of public financial support selectively granted to businesses that distorts competition, absent an exception. The EU's...more
On 31 May 2022, Skadden, Compass Lexecon and Concurrences convened for a fireside chat to discuss developments in merger control and digital markets, followed by a panel discussion on a range of issues, including the...more
On 18 May 2022, the European General Court rejected Canon’s appeal against a €28 million fine imposed by the European Commission in 2019 for its breach of EU gun-jumping rules, just a few months after a similar judgment,...more
The EU General Court has issued the latest judgment in a suite of hard-line anti-gun-jumping cases – effectively confirming the European Commission’s 2018 decision imposing a record fine on Altice for breaching EU merger...more
On 22 September 2021, the EU’s second-highest court, the General Court, confirmed the European Commission’s 2018 decision (Case T-425/18—Altice Europe v. Commission) imposing an EUR 124 million fine on Altice Europe NV...more
On September 22, 2021, the European General Court issued its judgment upholding the decision by the European Commission (Commission) to fine Altice for gun-jumping in the acquisition of Portugal Telecom (PT) in 2015. The...more
JANUARY – MARCH 2021: HIGHLIGHTS - UNITED STATES - - As the United States rounds the corner toward getting the COVID-19 epidemic under control within its borders, the US antitrust enforcers have seen a major spike in...more
On 26 January, 2021, TransPerfect Legal Solutions (TLS) kicked off a virtual conference on EU and UK competition regulation. This article is the third of a three-part series highlighting the major takeaways from each session...more