"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2003 and 30th April 2003"* The European Commission authorised, subject to conditions, the acquisition of Pharmacia Corporation (Pharmacia) by Pfizer Inc. (Pfizer) in a deal creating the largest pharmaceutical company in the world in terms (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2003 and 30th April 2003"* On 13 January 2003, the Commission decided not to oppose the acquisition by Tetra Laval B.V., which belongs to the Swiss-based Tetra Laval Group, the owner of the Tetra Pak packaging businesses, of the French (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st September 2002 and 31st December 2002"* On 23 December 2002 the Commission decided to accede to the request of the Belgian Economic Minister to refer, pursuant to Art. 9 of the ECMR, a transaction involving an agreement between l’Intercommunale (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st September 2002 and 31st December 2002"* On 17 December 2002 the European Commission authorised, subject to conditions, the joint acquisition of German regional gas wholesaler Gas Versorgung Süddeutschland (GVS) by German electricity firm Energie (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st September 2002 and 31st December 2002"* On 13 December 2002 the Commission decided to refer certain aspects of Leroy Merlin‘s acquisition of Brico DIY stores to the competition authorities in France, Spain and Portugal. The Commission found that (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st September 2002 and 31st December 2002"* The main interest of this judgment lies in its impact on the interpretation of the Merger Regulation with regard to ancillary restraints. The Court held that contractual clauses which constitute restrictions (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st September 2002 and 31st December 2002"* In November the Commission granted conditional approval to the acquisition of the German specialty chemicals company Degussa AG by the German mining and technology group RAG. The transaction had initially (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st September 2002 and 31st December 2002"* On 25 October 2002, the Court of First Instance (CFI) delivered its ruling in case T-5/02, Tetra Laval v Commission, and annulled the Commission’s Decision of 30 October 2001 declaring as incompatible with (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st September 2002 and 31st December 2002"* The Commission referred the proposed acquisition of the Dutch construction company Hollandsche Beton Groep N.V. (HBG) by rival Koninklijke BAM NBM N.V. (BAM) to the Dutch Competition Authority, giving the (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st May 2002 and 31th August 2002"* The Commission decided to grant the referral requested by the Spanish Competition Authorities with regard to the integration of the two satellite digital television platforms operating in Spain. The operation, which (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st May 2002 and 31th August 2002"* The European Commission granted clearance under the European Union’s Merger Regulation to the proposed acquisition of British cruise operator P&O Princess Plc by US-based cruise operator Carnival Corp. The (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st May 2002 and 31th August 2002"* Following referral of the case by a group of member states according to Article 22 (3) of the Merger Regulation, the European Commission cleared the acquisition of Sulzer Textil, the textile machinery division of (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st May 2002 and 31th August 2002"* The European Commission gave the go ahead to the proposed acquisition of Finnish-based telecommunications group Sonera Corp. by Sweden’s Telia AB, another telecoms firm. The Commission feared that the deal—the first (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st May 2002 and 31th August 2002"* The European Commission authorised BP Plc’s proposed acquisition of the whole of German oil and petrochemicals producer Veba Oel, currently a joint venture between BP and E.ON. The Commission concluded that the (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st May 2002 and 31th August 2002"* The European Commission granted retroactive clearance to the 1999 acquisition of the Dutch sand-lime joint venture CVK by the Haniel group of Germany and Dutch firm Cementbouw after the companies undertook to (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st May 2002 and 31th August 2002"* The European Commission approved, subject to conditions, the proposed take-over bid by Barilla Group of Italy for German bakeries group Kamps AG. The Commission feared that the deal might reinforce Barilla‘s leading (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st May 2002 and 31th August 2002"* On 6 June 2002 the European Court of First Instance (CFI) annulled the Commission’s decision to prohibit a merger between Airtours and First Choice, two UK based holiday tour operators. Though the Commission had (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st May 2002 and 31th August 2002"* The European Commission referred the proposed acquisition of joint control of the Bremerhavener Entsorgungsgesellschaft mbH (BEG) by Karl Nehlsen GmbH & Co KG (Nehlsen), Rethmann Entsorgungswirtschaft GmbH & (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st May 2002 and 31th August 2002"* The European Commission gave conditional approval to the proposed acquisition of German cigarette manufacturer Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken GmbH by Imperial Tobacco Group Plc of the United Kingdom. The acquisition, (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2002 and 30th April 2002"* The European Commission referred to the German competition authorities (Bundeskartellamt) a joint venture by which Connex Verkehr GmbH, a subsidiary of the French Vivendi group, and Deutsche (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2002 and 30th April 2002"* The Commission decided to clear Bayer‘s acquisition of Aventis Crop Science (ACS), subject to substantial divestitures. As initially notified, the operation would have led to the creation or strengthening of (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2002 and 30th April 2002"* The Commission cleared the proposed acquisition by Haniel of Ytong Holding AG, two German companies active in the building materials sector. As in the Haniel/Fels case, the Commission examined the deal’s impact (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2002 and 30th April 2002"* The Commission conditionally approved the proposed acquisition of the Italian chemicals company Ausimont SpA by Solvay SA of Belgium from Montedison SpA. Solvay has committed itself to sell a state of the art (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2002 and 30th April 2002"* The Commission cleared, subject to conditions, an agreement giving Energie Baden-Württemberg (EnBW), Electricidade de Portugal S.A. (EDP) and Caja de Ahorros de Asturias (Cajastur) joint control over Spain’s fourth (...)

"Internet Joint Ventures and the Quest for Exclusive Content: The T-Online Cases"* Introduction EC and national competition law issues arising from the marketing of ‘premium’ content, such as travel services and sports news, via the Internet were at the centre of several recent competition (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2002 and 30th April 2002"* The European Commission referred the acquisition by Compass of Rail Gourmet UK to the competition authorities of the United Kingdom, which had expressed concerns about reduction of competition in the UK on-train (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2002 and 30th April 2002"* The Commission cleared the proposed acquisition by Haniel Baustoff-Industrie Zuschlagstoffe GmbH of Fels-Werke GmbH, two German companies active in the building materials sector. The Commission examined carefully (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2002 and 30th April 2002"* The Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of the French pet food company Royal Canin S.A. by Masterfoods Holding, a French subsidiary of Mars Inc.of the United States. Mars undertook to divest its (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2002 and 30th April 2002"* The Commission’s own preliminary review of the case showed that the competition concerns were limited to the Danish market where Danish Crown and Steff-Houlberg are currently the two largest competitors. The (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2002 and 30th April 2002"* On 30 January 2002 the Commission adopted a decision setting measures for the separation of the Swiss-based Tetra Laval from the French company Sidel through the divestiture of Tetra‘s shareholding in Sidel. This (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2002 and 30th April 2002"* On 30 January 2002 the Commission decided on the arrangements for demerging Schneider Electric and Legrand, two French electrical equipment manufacturers whose merger was prohibited in 2001 on the grounds that it (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2002 and 30th April 2002"* The Commission referred to the Norwegian Competition Authority the examination of the impact on the oil and gas markets of the proposed acquisition of the Anglo-Norwegian firm Kvaerner by Aker Maritime of Norway. (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2002 and 30th April 2002"* The proposed acquisition of the French undertaking Cerestar by US company Cargill Inc. was cleared by the Commission with the exception of the deal’s impact in the UK market for sweeteners. The examination of (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2002 and 30th April 2002"* The Commission authorised SEB to acquire sole control of Moulinex. Both are French companies manufacturing small electrical household appliances. The Commission has imposed the condition that SEB must not use the (...)

"Merger control: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2001"* The Commission on 23 August referred to the German Competition Authority the examination of the impact in the downstream market for oil products of a proposed joint venture between Deutsche and RWE-DEA. At the same time, the (...)

"Merger control: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2001"* On 27 July, Swiss-based Nestlé made significant concessions in order to obtain a clearance for the acquisition of the American petfood company Ralston Purina. The conditions concerns Spain, Italy and Greece. In Spain, Nestlé (...)

"Merger control: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2001"* In July, following an in-depth investigation under the Merger regulation, the Commission authorised the creation of a joint venture between De Beers and LVMH. This joint venture company, Rapids World, will be active in the (...)

"Merger control: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2001"* On 20 July, the Commission agreed to a request from the UK authorities to refer to them the examination of the acquisition by the Newcastle-based Go-Ahead Group and Paris-based Keolis SA of joint control of London-based (...)

"Merger control: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2001"* Following remedies offered by the parties concerned, the Commission on 19 July gave the go-ahead for the Allianz insurance group to take over Dresdner Bank. The Commission’s investigations focused on the consequences of the (...)

"Merger control: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2001"* On 3 July, the Commission approved the acquisition by Hutchison Netherlands BV (Hutchison) and Rotterdam Municipal Port Management (RMPM) of the Rotterdam container terminal operator Europe Combined Terminals BV (ECT), (...)

"Merger control: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2001"* The Commission on 26 June approved an operation by which Télédiffusion de France (TDF), a France Télécom subsidiary providing wireless solutions for broadcasters and telecom operators, acquires a controlling stake in Digita, the (...)

"Merger control: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2001"* Following a thorough investigation, the European Commission on 20 June 2001 granted regulatory approval to the proposed takeover of Auwärter, the German company which makes the Neoplan buses and coaches, by the MAN group. The (...)

"Internet Joint Ventures and the Quest for Exclusive Content: The T-Online Cases"* Introduction EC and national competition law issues arising from the marketing of ‘premium’ content, such as travel services and sports news, via the Internet were at the centre of several recent competition (...)

"Merger control: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2001"* Subject to the divestiture the Commission approved the proposed acquisition by Industri Kapital Group of the chemical operations of Swedish company Perstorp AB. The divestiture concerns Industri Kapital‘s phenolic resins (...)

"Merger control: main developments between 1 May and 31 August 2001"* In May, the Commission approved the acquisition by Pernod Ricard SA of France and British-based Diageo Plc of the world-wide spirits and wine business of the Seagram Company Ltd Canada from France’s Vivendi Universal SA. (...)

"Internet Joint Ventures and the Quest for Exclusive Content: The T-Online Cases"* Introduction EC and national competition law issues arising from the marketing of ‘premium’ content, such as travel services and sports news, via the Internet were at the centre of several recent competition (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2001 and 30th April 2001"* In April, the Commission granted clearance to the proposed takeover of Samas‘ office supplies business by Buhrmann, subject to the divestiture of the Dutch office supplies activities of Corporate Express, a (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2001 and 30th April 2001"* On 3 April the Commission decided to authorise the takeover of DaimlerChrysler‘s rail business division ADtranz by Bombardier of Canada, subject to commitments. As initially notified, the operation would have led (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2001 and 30th April 2001"* In March, the Commission authorised the creation of two joint ventures with world-wide activities for outbound cross-border mail by The Post Office (TPO) of the United Kingdom, TNT Post Group N.V. (TPG) of the (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2001 and 30th April 2001"* In March, the Commission gave the go-ahead for Degussa AG, a German-based company belonging to E.ON AG, to acquire sole control of the British company Laporte PLC. While both companies are active in the (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2001 and 30th April 2001"* On 8 February 2001, the Commission decided to refer to the Finnish Competition Authority – Kilpailuvirasto – part of the examination of the impact of the proposed acquisition by Finland’s Metsäliitto Osuuskunta of a (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2001 and 30th April 2001"* In February, the Commission authorised, subject to conditions, the acquisition of joint control of German electricity company Energie Baden-Württemberg AG (EnBW) by Electricité de France (EdF) and Zweckverband (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2001 and 30th April 2001"* On 31 January 2001 the Court of First Instance (‘CFI’) annulled the Commission’s decision of 29 July 1998 (COMP/ECSC.1252) by which the Commission authorised the merger aspects of the restructuring of the German (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2001 and 30th April 2001"* On 31 January 2001, the Commission blocked the proposed takeover of Finnish tissue paper manufacturer Metsä Tissue by its Swedish competitor SCA Mölnlycke on competition grounds. This was only the 14th time that (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2001 and 30th April 2001"* At the end of January the Commission gave regulatory clearance to a proposed joint venture between British undertaking Smith & Nephew plc and Beiersdorf AG of Germany after the parties made substantial (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2001 and 30th April 2001"* Following an in depth investigation, in January 2001 the Commission authorised the merger between Metso Corporation and Svedala AB, two Nordic companies with world-wide activities in the production and (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2001 and 30th April 2001"* The Commission decided to refer to the Italian competition authorities – Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato – the examination of the impact of the proposed acquisition of Infostrada by Enel and France (...)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st January 2001 and 30th April 2001"* In January, the Commission authorised UAL Corp., whose principal operating subsidiary is United Airlines Inc., to acquire US Airways Group Inc. The Commission’s review showed that the operation could raise (...)