1. Introduction That the technology sector has never been under greater scrutiny from antitrust regulators is without question. The past two years alone have seen a number of major investigations by regulators around the world into, for example, the distribution of e-books, several aspects of (...)

1. Introduction On 12 December 2012 the EU General Court dismissed Electrabel’s appeal against the €20 million fine the European Commission had imposed on it for failing to notify a transaction - the acquisition of a minority shareholding - to the Commission under the EU Merger Regulation (...)

1. Introduction The Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) has dismissed AstraZeneca’s appeal against the Commission’s and General Court’s findings that the company abused its dominant position under Article 102 TFEU by misusing the patent system and pharmaceutical marketing procedures in order to (...)

In May 2012 Vue Entertainment International Limited ("Vue") acquired sole control of Apollo Cinemas Limited ("Apollo"). In its decision of 24 August 2012 published in October 2012, the Office of Fair Trading ("OFT") stated that the acquisition had resulted or may be expected to result in a (...)

In May 2012 the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) opened a merger investigation into the acquisition by Facebook Inc (Facebook) of Instagram Inc (Instagram). This was the first time a merger involving Facebook, the global colossus in the social networking industry, publicly came under the scrutiny (...)

The acquisition of Ryanair’s minority stake in Aer Lingus is currently under investigation by the Competition Commission (CC) under the merger control regime of the Enterprise Act 2002, despite a series of jurisdictional challenges and a potentially conflicting transaction (a renewed bid by (...)

The acquisition of Ryanair’s minority stake in Aer Lingus is currently under investigation by the Competition Commission (CC) under the merger control regime of the Enterprise Act 2002, despite a series of jurisdictional challenges and a potentially conflicting transaction (a renewed bid by (...)

On 1 May 2012 the Competition Commission (CC) published its decision on the anticipated joint venture between Anglo American PLC and Lafarge SA in the market for construction materials. The CC concluded that the proposed joint venture would give rise to a substantial lessening of competition in (...)

On 1 May 2012 the Competition Commission (CC) published its decision on the anticipated joint venture between Anglo American PLC and Lafarge SA in the market for construction materials. The CC concluded that the proposed joint venture would give rise to a substantial lessening of competition in (...)

Introduction On 10 October 2011, the UK Office of Fair Trading (the «OFT«) referred the anticipated 50/50 joint venture between in-flight catering services companies Alpha Flight Group Limited («Alpha«) and LSG Lufthansa Service Holding AG («LSG«) to the Competition Commission (the «CC«), for an (...)

1. Introduction In our foreword to e-Competition’s 2011 Mergers and Joint Ventures Special Issue we noted the ever-increasing number of national jurisdictions with merger control regimes, and the effect of multiple-filing requirements on businesses and practitioners involved in M&A (...)

Introduction On 10 October 2011, the UK Office of Fair Trading (the "OFT") referred the anticipated 50/50 joint venture between in-flight catering services companies Alpha Flight Group Limited ("Alpha") and LSG Lufthansa Service Holding AG ("LSG") to the Competition Commission (the "CC"), for (...)

All views expressed are strictly personal views of the author. The present case note does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on as such. The author would like to thank Natalia Sivakumaran, associate at Herbert Smith LLP in London, for her assistance with the preparation of (...)

Introduction and background Ratcliff Palfinger (Ratcliff) manufactures and supplies tail lifts for commercial vehicles, passenger vehicles and trains. Ross & Bonnyman (R&B) manufactures and supplies tail lifts for commercial vehicles, ambulances and mezzanine and yard lifts. Both (...)

I. Introduction and background Ordnance Survey (OS) is an independent non-ministerial government department which produces a wide range of mapping products. Local Government Improvement and Development (LGID) is the business name of the Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government (...)

Introduction and background Assa Abloy AB (AA) is an international manufacturer and supplier of locks and associated products, sold under a number of brands in the UK, with Yale being its most well-known. Paddock Holdings Limited (Paddock) is a UK-based manufacturer and supplier of multi-point (...)

Introduction and background This was a transaction involving two companies (Rex Features Limited - “Rex” - and Getty Images, Inc - “Getty”) with overlapping activities in the licensing of stock and editorial images to media companies (in particular celebrity and entertainment images). The two (...)

Introduction and background to the CAT judgment The merger of Stagecoach Group Plc (“Stagecoach”) and Preston Bus Limited (“PBL”) was referred to the UK Competition Commission (the “CC”) by the UK Office of Fair Trading on 28 May 2009. According to section 36 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (the “Act”), (...)

Following a reference of the case to it from the OFT, on 22 December 2009, the UK Competition Commission ("CC") announced that it had decided to clear unconditionally the proposed merger of Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. ("Ticketmaster"), a ticketing agent, and Live Nation Inc. ("Live (...)

On 28 August 2009, the UK’s Office of Fair Trading ("OFT") announced that it had unconditionally cleared the acquisition of assets by Smiths News from Surridge Dawson (the "Transaction"). Both parties were active in the supply of wholesale newspaper and magazine distribution in the UK. The (...)

On 11 June 2009, the Office of Fair Trading ("OFT") announced that it had decided to refer the proposed merger of Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc ("Ticketmaster") and Live Nation Inc ("Live Nation") to the Competition Commission ("CC") for an in-depth investigation. Despite the fact that there (...)

On 28 April 2009, the Office of Fair Trading (“OFT”) announced that it had decided to clear the acquisition of 15 stores belonging to the Zavvi entertainment retail chain by HMV plc (“HMV”) on the basis that the Zavvi stores were a “failing firm”. The so-called failing firm defence can override prima (...)

On 29 January 2009, the Office of Fair Trading (the "OFT") announced that it had cleared the acquisition of Lochard Ltd by Spectris plc on the basis of the de minimis exception. This is only the seventh case in which the OFT has used the de minimis exception as grounds for a decision not (...)

On 8 August 2008, the Office of Fair Trading (“OFT”) announced that it had cleared the London aspects of the acquisition by Global Radio UK Limited (“Global”) of GCap Media plc (“GCap”) on the basis that the acquisition was expected to generate significant efficiencies that will benefit advertisers (...)

On 1 May 2008 the OFT cleared the completed acquisition by General Healthcare Group (GHG) of seven hospitals from Nuffield Hospitals, following the on-sale of two of the nine hospitals GHG had originally acquired. The on-sale arrangements removed the problematic overlap in two of the local (...)

On 4 February 2008, the Office of Fair Trading ("OFT") announced that it had suspended its duty to refer Dunfermline Press Limited‘s ("DPL ") acquisition of the Berkshire Regional Newspapers ("BRN") portfolio of 8 local newspaper titles from Trinity Mirror plc to the Competition Commission (...)

On 18 January 2008, the UK’s Office of Fair Trading (“OFT”) announced that it had cleared unconditionally the purchase of GB Airways Limited (“GB Airways”) by easyJet Airline Company Limited (“easyJet”). The OFT focused on relatively narrowly defined markets, considering scheduled flights on (...)

"Judicial review and merger control: The CFI’s expedited procedure"* 1. Introduction The recent introduction by the Court of First Instance (CFI) of an expedited (’fast-track’) procedure for certain cases, including in particular merger cases, has been greeted positively by the business and (...)