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
In December 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) made a preliminary ruling which will herald a significant, and welcome, impact on the treatment of lawyer-client communications by the EU courts. The...more
A speech delivered this week by the Chief Executive of the CMA provides insights into the competition watchdog's approach to merger control – reflecting on some of the most pressing and debated issues regarding merger control...more
The CMA has concluded that a merger between the two largest suppliers of ready to bake products to UK grocery retailers should be unwound, highlighting the risks of choosing to complete mergers without first receiving CMA...more
The National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSIA) came into force a year ago, ushering in a new era of investment control in the UK. Though not without teething issues, the NSIA appears to be working well, and is...more
With 2023 only a few days old, many predictions are out there about what the New Year holds for investment and M&A activity. While it is hard to prophesy, particularly in such unprecedentedly turbulent times, one legal trend...more
The UK’s Digital Markets Unit is now expected to be put on a statutory footing and granted new wide-ranging powers to regulate anti-competitive behaviour by May 2023, with its powers coming into force by October 2023....more
The European Commission has adopted guidelines addressing the application of EU competition law to the "solo self-employed". The guidelines clarify situations in which certain self-employed individuals may work collectively...more
The UK Government has, for one of the very first times, used its new national security powers to intervene in respect of a transaction. This new intervention is in respect of the acquisition of asset development rights to an...more
The UK Government this week prohibited the acquisition of intellectual property owned by University of Manchester by a Chinese company – marking the first time the UK Government has exercised its powers to block a transaction...more
The UK Government has published its first Annual Report on the functioning of the recently implemented National Security and Investment regime, which gives the Government the power to scrutinise certain acquisitions and...more
The UK’s new Vertical Agreement Block Exemption Order (VABEO), the long awaited replacement to the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER – which was retained in the UK under domestic law post-Brexit) is now live in the UK...more
The UK Government recently announced a series of reforms for strengthening the UK competition regime, including measures that will increase penalties for non-compliance, speed up antitrust investigations and permit better...more
The European Commission has published draft Guidelines on the application of competition law to collective bargaining involving the working conditions of the “solo self-employed”. The draft Guidelines clarify the Commission’s...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
The CMA has imposed a record fine on an Irish trading software supplier for alleged breaches of a ‘hold separate order’ in relation to the completed purchase of a US rival. This is the latest instance in a string of fines...more
The UK Government has been busy adding flesh to the bare bones of the domestic subsidy control regime that has been in place since the start of 2021 following the signing of the EU/UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement...more
In what could herald the most significant changes to the UK competition regime in 25 years, the UK Government has announced a series of proposed reforms to UK competition law enforcement. The stated aims of the reforms are...more
The UK Government is consulting on proposed powers for the recently launched Digital Markets Unit. This is a significant juncture in the reconfiguration of the post-Brexit regulatory landscape, marked by a determination to...more
The UK’s much publicised National Security and Investment Bill has now been granted Royal Assent – passing into law an Act which will significantly affect the way investments in the UK can be reviewed by the Government where...more
The UK Government has launched the much anticipated Digital Markets Unit (DMU) as a first step towards an “unashamedly pro-competition" regime focused on the position of “tech giants”. ...more
A new National Security and Investment Bill laid before the UK Parliament this week will, on enactment, significantly affect the way investments in the UK can be reviewed by the UK Government where they raise national...more
2/12/2021
/ Covered Transactions ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Foreign Investment ,
Investment ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Merger Controls ,
National Security ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) ,
UK
On 6 January 2021, the European Commission published an "Inception Impact Assessment" seeking feedback on an initiative aimed at defining EU competition law's scope of application to "self-employed" workers (in advance of an...more
The United Kingdom and the European Union are set to take bold strides towards the regulation of digital markets in coming months. While both are broadly aligned in their intention to better regulate large tech companies, the...more
In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, many companies will be facing significant financial difficulties for which the only viable solution to remain a going concern will be acquisition by another company. It is safe to predict...more