On August 5, 2024, the United States Department of Justice filed a rare gun jumping civil lawsuit and proposed settlement in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against a global sports and...more
On August 5, 2024, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that it filed a civil complaint and proposed settlement with Legends Hospitality Parent Holdings LLC (“Legends”) for unlawful pre-merger coordination, commonly...more
On 10 April 2024, Australia’s Federal Government announced far-reaching reforms to its merger control regime, most notably the introduction of a new single, mandatory and suspensory, merger control system. The reform package...more
2024 is shaping up to be a year of significant change in Brussels. European Parliamentary elections in June will be followed by the appointment of a new Commission in the autumn....more
This newsletter is a summary of the antitrust developments we think are most interesting to your business. Börries Ahrens, partner based in Hamburg, is our editor this month. He has selected: Significant reforms to German...more
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has (mostly) confirmed the European Commission (EC)’s decision to fine Altice for implementing a transaction prior to its notification and the EC’s merger control clearance....more
Participants in the renewable energy industry should be aware of antitrust and competition rules because renewable energy is no longer a nascent field. Europe generated almost 40% of its electricity from renewable sources in...more
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
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
Following the August 1, 2022, amendment of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) Anti-Monopoly Law, the State Administration for Market Regulation — the PRC’s antitrust authority (AMR) — released the Provisions on the Review...more
The Development: China's State Administration for Market Regulation ("SAMR") recently released four regulations ("Regulations") that implement 2022 amendments to the Anti-Monopoly Law of China ("AML"). The most significant...more
An EU Advocate General has advised that an appeal brought by Altice should be dismissed in its entirety – in effect confirming the validity of a 2018 European Commission decision imposing a record fine on Altice for breaching...more
Advocate General Anthony Michael Collins has proposed that the European Court of Justice uphold the General Court's Altice judgment. In his Opinion, he considered that the entering into certain types of pre-closing covenants...more
Following last year’s significant amendments to the PRC Anti-Monopoly Law (2022 AML) the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has published final versions of the accompanying implementing regulations. Taking...more
In 2022, the French Competition Authority (the "FCA") maintained a high level of activity, focusing notably on digital markets, which remain one of its key priorities. Last year also brought the first successful failing firm...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
Egypt is in the final stages of amending its Competition Law, which will require transaction parties to obtain merger control clearance prior to closing. Once they come into effect, the amendments will overhaul the current...more
The European General Court (GC) has affirmed a EUR 28 million (USD 32 million) fine against Canon for gun-jumping in connection with Canon's 2019 acquisition of Toshiba's medical device business (TMSC). The GC's decision...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 French Competition Authority ("FCA") fines a company for gun-jumping in a case relating to a progressive takeover and de facto control - On 12 April 2022, the FCA fined the Compagnie Financière Européenne de Prises de...more
Takeaways - More than 50 countries now have the discretion to conduct competition reviews of mergers below mandatory notification thresholds, and the European Commission, EU member states, the U.K. and others are using...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