On October 12, 2023, the European Commission (EC) ordered Illumina to unwind its already completed acquisition of the cancer-test provider GRAIL Inc. This is the first time that the EC has ordered a reversal of an...more
European Commission’s record gun-jumping fine on Illumina serves as warning to merging parties - The European Commission (EC) has imposed a fine of around EUR432 million on genomics company Illumina for closing its...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
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
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 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
Le 29 octobre 2021, la Commission européenne (« Commission ») a adopté des mesures provisoires dans le cadre d’une enquête de gun-jumping afin d’éviter la réalisation anticipée de l’acquisition de la société américaine Grail...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
The dawn of a new year provides a great opportunity to take stock of where EU merger control might go in the next year. In this blog, we outline what we consider to be five key trends to watch out for in EU merger control in...more
On 27 June 2019 the European Commission imposed a fine of €28 million on the Japanese imaging and optical products manufacturer Canon for “gun-jumping” by using a warehousing structure in its 2016 acquisition of Toshiba...more
Dans un arrêt du 31 mai 2018 (aff. C-633/16, Ernst & Young), la Cour de Justice de l’Union Européenne (CJUE) précise que la dénonciation d’un accord de coopération en vue de la réalisation d’une opération de concentration qui...more
In a judgment of 31 May 2018 (Case C-633/16, Ernst & Young), the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the termination of a cooperation agreement with a view to implementing a M&A transaction prior to its clearing under...more
Antitrust and Competition - Gun jumping attracts increased scrutiny by the European Commission - The European Commission continues its scrutiny against breaches of the procedural obligations in the framework of the EU merger...more
The “standstill obligation” under Article 7 of the Regulation 139/2004 on Merger Control (EUMR) prevents parties from implementing their transaction before receiving merger clearance from the European Commission (EC). Failure...more
Over the last year, we have noted an increased crackdown by competition agencies on so-called “gun jumping” – that is, the implementation of a merger before mandatory merger clearances are received. On 31 May 2018, the...more
On 24th April 2018 the European Commission announced that it had imposed a fine of €124.5 million on Altice, the multinational cable and telecommunications company based in the Netherlands, for implementing its acquisition...more
On 24 April 2018, the European Commission fined multinational telecoms company Altice €124.5 million (c.$150 million) for breaching EU merger control rules by implementing its acquisition of Portuguese telecoms operator PT...more