In This Issue:

- Shareholder Activism in Germany

- Reinforced Ukraine-Related Sanctions on Russia

- Current Developments Foreign Direct Investment into EU Increasing

- Rising Confidence – European M&A Trends for the First Half of 2014

- Legislation European Commission Consults on Improvements of Merger Control at the EU Level

- Noteworthy Deals GE Wins Alstom Energy Bid Battle

- 21st Century Fox Sells European Pay-TV Channels Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia to BSkyB

- BlackBerry Buys German Mobile Security Company Secusmart

- Excerpt from Shareholder Activism in Germany:

Over the past few years, there has been a noticeable increase in hedge funds building up considerable stakes in German-listed companies in the context of public takeovers. Often, the purpose of this is to take advantage of minority shareholder rights granted under German stock corporation law.

Companies seeking to acquire control of German-listed companies need to be aware of the potential risks and costs associated with such activist stakebuilding in takeover situations.