Until now, the European Commission's (EC) antitrust focus on labour-related issues has been timid. This may soon change. The EC has recently published a policy brief on labour markets, explaining that in its view, wage-fixing...more
5/23/2024
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
International Labor Laws ,
No-Poaching ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) ,
Wage-Fixing
In yet another twist in the Illumina/Grail saga, Advocate General Emiliou has challenged the European Commission's approach to calling-in certain non-reportable transactions for review. The final judgment will be delivered by...more
The EC has published the long-awaited revised Market Definition Notice (the "Notice"), marking the first update since its initial adoption in 1997. The Notice clarifies the methodology for defining product and geographic...more
White & Case Global Antitrust Merger StatPak (WAMS)—the first real-time clearinghouse for global merger notification data—has analyzed merger notifications in reporting jurisdictions around the first half of calendar year...more
9/28/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Competition ,
Competition Authorities ,
EU ,
Global Dealmaking ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
OECD ,
Popular ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
UK
The adopted FSR Implementing Regulation contains important changes compared to the draft published in February 2023. The focus of the FSR filings for M&A deals and public tenders in the EU will be on companies' foreign...more
The European Commission ("Commission") has adopted a package of revised legal texts aimed at simplifying the EU merger review process. The package expands the categories of cases that may be eligible for the simplified...more
Australia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey See Significant Surge in Merger Filing Activity; US and EU Merger Filing Activity is Down Compared to 2021's Record Levels, But Still Above Historical Levels -
White & Case...more
12/20/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Australia ,
Biden Administration ,
Brazil ,
Competition ,
EU ,
EU Horizontal Safeguard Regulation (HSR) ,
European Commission ,
Investigations ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Pre-Merger Filing Requirements ,
Russia ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Turkey ,
Ukraine
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
9/19/2022
/ Appeals ,
Buyers ,
Competition ,
Declaratory Judgments ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
European Merger Control Regulation ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Remedies ,
Standard of Proof ,
Standard of Review
...Key Highlights -
According to WAMS data, US merger control filing activity has cooled off: H1 2022 merger filing activity is down 23 percent versus H1 2021. However, US HSR filings in H1 2022 are 47 percent above the...more
7/19/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Austria ,
Brazil ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Merger Control Regulation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Germany ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers
On 13 July 2022, the General Court of the European Union confirmed the European Commission's jurisdiction to review the Illumina/Grail transaction following a referral pursuant to Article 22 EUMR. The judgment is an important...more
7/18/2022
/ Admissibility ,
EU ,
EUMR ,
European Commission ,
European Merger Control Regulation ,
General Court of the European Union (GCEU) ,
Infrastructure ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Jurisdiction ,
Killer Acquisitions ,
Merger Reviews
On 1 March 2022, the European Commission ("EC") published for consultation two draft revised horizontal block exemption regulations ("HBERs") on research & development ("R&D") and specialisation agreements, as well as draft...more
On 23 February 2022, the EU's General Court (GC) dismissed a €1.7 billion claim for damages brought by United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) against the European Commission (EC).1 UPS sought compensation for the losses resulting...more
3/3/2022
/ Break-Up Fee ,
Damages ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Infringement ,
Lost Profits ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Right of Defence ,
TNT ,
UPS
As part of its review of the EU antitrust rules governing vertical agreements, the European Commission (EC) has published for consultation a draft new section of its Vertical Guidelines, which contains proposed guidance on...more
2/16/2022
/ Antitrust Division ,
Distributors ,
Draft Guidance ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Exemptions ,
Proposed Rules ,
Safe Harbors ,
Suppliers ,
Supply Chain ,
Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER)
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Competition (the “GAC”) has been ramping up its merger control activities and recently—at least initially—blocked its first transaction, signaling plans for more active...more
In a speech on 22 October 2021, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager revealed that the European Commission was planning a series of dawn raids for the months to come. She highlighted that the European Commission is...more
This autumn, European competition authorities are likely to resume dawn raids of companies suspected of competition law infringements. This will aim to clear a backlog of planned inspections that has built up since the start...more
There have been a number of developments in merger control in 2020 and Q1 2021. Some are related to the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, while others are borne out of the ambitions and changes sought by individual...more
On 6 May 2021, the European Commission ("Commission") published a staff working document ("SWD") on its evaluation of the horizontal block exemption regulations on research & development and specialisation agreements...more
On 14 March 2019, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) decided to close its investigation into a discount scheme by Merck Sharp & Dohme Limited (MSD). The CMA concluded that there were no grounds for it to take...more