Porter Elliott

On 17 April 2020, approximately one week after the CMA found COVID-19 not to be an obstacle to its decision to block the Sabre/ Farelogix transaction, the CMA announced its provisional clearance of the acquisition by Amazon of a minority shareholding and certain rights in Deliveroo “in light of (...)

Despite the uncertain future facing the global travel industry as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, on 9 April 2020, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) announced its decision to block the proposed Sabre/Farelogix transaction, citing concerns that “UK passengers [would] miss out on (...)

The European Commission (the “Commission”) continues to encourage companies to delay any planned merger notifications until further notice in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, as it anticipates that it may face difficulties in collecting the information necessary to conduct its review, in (...)

On 3 April 2020, the European Commission (the “Commission”) approved Gategroup’s acquisition of the Lufthansa Service Group’s European business (“LSG EU”). Gategroup is a Swiss company that provides catering, retail and other airline services globally. German-based LSG EU is active in train and (...)

On 27 March 2020, the Austrian Federal Competition Authority (“FCA”) announced that, pursuant to its request, the Cartel Court had imposed a fine of € 100,000 on Castanea Rubra Assets GmbH. Castanea Rubra Assets GmbH had acquired 94% of the shares of German-based car parts manufacturer Neue (...)

On 26 March 2020, the Austrian Federal Competition Authority (“FCA”) granted a request to amend the commitments in the market for free TV and television advertising undertaken as part of a merger cleared in 2017. The FCA had cleared the acquisition by Austrian-based ProSiebenSat.1Puls 4 GmbH (...)

The Italian Competition Authority (“AGCM”) has raised the turnover thresholds applicable to merger notifications effective 23 March 2020. Under the new thresholds, a merger must be notified and approved by the AGCM prior to implementation where: • € 504 million in combined turnover is achieved in (...)

In September 2019, the Portuguese Competition Authority (“AdC”) imposed a fine of € 155,000 on Hospital Particular do Algarve (“HPA”) for gun-jumping, finding that HPA had acquired sole control of Hospital de São Gonçalo de Lagos without the AdC’s prior approval. The AdC has recently announced that it (...)

On 18 March 2020, the Hungarian Competition Authority (“GVH”) conditionally re-approved fixed telecommunications service provider DIGI’s acquisition of its rival Invitel. The GVH had already conditionally cleared the acquisition in May 2018 (see VBB on Competition Law, Volume 2018, No. 5). During (...)

The European Commission (the “Commission”) has announced that it will face delays in its merger review process as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the Commission has stated that it may not be able to collect information from third parties efficiently and may have limited access (...)

On 17 February 2020, the Finnish Market Court (the “Court”) upheld the request of the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (the “KKV”) to prohibit Kesko’s proposed acquisition of grocery wholesaler Heinon Tukku. The Court’s judgment may be appealed before the Finnish Supreme Administrative (...)

On 17 January 2020, the Lithuanian Competition Council, Konkurencijos taryba, published a decision of the Lithuanian Supreme Administrative Court upholding a € 947,700 gun jumping fine imposed on Kauno Grūdai, one of Lithuania’s largest agricultural processing companies. Kauno Grūdai acquired 51% (...)

On 10 January 2020, the European Commission approved AbbVie’s acquisition of its rival Allergan, subject to the divestment of one of Allergan’s pipeline inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) drugs. Both companies are global pharmaceutical producers with innovative product portfolios covering, among (...)

On 20 January 2020, the Belgian Competition Authority (“BCA”) announced the adoption of new rules expanding the scope of the simplified merger review procedure in Belgium. Under these new rules, the BCA can decide to follow a simplified procedure to review transactions that fulfil two (...)

Telekom and EWE, two of Germany’s largest telecommunications companies, sought to form a joint venture (JV) to expand the fire-optic broadband network in north-western Germany. On 21 March 2019, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) launched two sets of parallel proceedings: an investigation (...)

On 18 December 2019, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) prohibited Loomis’ proposed acquisition of its competitor, Ziemann Sicherheit Holding (“Ziemann”). Loomis and Ziemann are both cash handling service providers. The proposed concentration would have affected the provision of cash to banks (...)

On 12 November 2019, the European Commission (“Commission”) conditionally cleared Telia Company’s acquisition of Bonnier Broadcasting Company after a Phase II investigation. Telia is a Swedish telecommunications company that provides fixed and mobile telecommunications, broadband and television (...)

On 28 October 2019, the Norwegian Competition Authority (“NCO”) prohibited Prosafe, the leading global producer of semi-submersible accommodation vessels, from acquiring competitor Floatel. Prosafe is Norwegian, whereas Floatel is based in Bermuda and Sweden. Semi-submersible accommodation (...)

On 11 October 2019, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) fined the airline technology company Sabre Holdings £ 20,000 for failing to comply with two Section 109 Enterprise Act notices during the CMA’s in-depth investigation into its proposed acquisition of Farelogix, Inc. Section 109 (...)

On 8 October 2019, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) ordered Ecolab to divest Holchem, effectively blocking the merger of two of the largest cleaning chemicals suppliers in the UK. Ecolab bought Holchem in November 2018. The CMA launched a merger inquiry in February 2019, which (...)

On 1 October 2019, the Commission conditionally cleared Novelis’ acquisition of Aleris subject to commitments following an in-depth investigation. Novelis, a subsidiary of the Indian aluminum and copper supplier Hindalco Industries Ltd., and Aleris are both US-based manufacturers of (...)

On 24 September 2019, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) fined Paypal £ 250,000 for breaching its freezing order that halted integration of the parties during its review of Paypal’s completed acquisition of the Swedish start-up iZettle. Despite having approved the deal in June 2019, (...)

On 17 September 2019, the European Commission (“Commission”) conditionally cleared E.ON’s acquisition of Innogy from its parent company, RWE, following a second phase investigation. E.ON and Innogy are German energy companies active across the full energy chain, from generation to distribution. (...)

On 18 July 2019, the European Commission (“Commission”) conditionally approved Vodafone’s acquisition of Liberty Global’s cable network business in four countries (Czechia, Germany, Hungary and Romania). In order to address competition concerns identified mainly in Germany regarding the ability of (...)

On 11 July 2019, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) prohibited the proposed acquisition of Duales System Holding (“DSD”) by Remondis. The parties are active in the waste management industry in Germany. In Germany, the waste management industry is organised around the “Dual System”, which (...)

On 13 June 2019, the Austrian Federal Competition Authority cleared the acquisition of GOM, a supplier of hardware and software for automated 3D-coordinate metrology, by Carl Zeiss, a technology company in the optical and optoelectronic industry. The clearance is subject to commitments. Among (...)

On 11 June 2019, the European Commission (“Commission”) prohibited the creation of a joint venture between Thyssenkrupp and Tata Steel under the EU Merger Regulation. The deal would have combined Thyssenkrupp and Tata’s flat carbon and electrical steel activities in the EEA. According to the (...)

On 10 June 2019, the UK’s Competition and Market’s Authority (“CMA”) cancelled its Phase II investigation into scientific instruments giant Thermo Fisher’s anticipated purchase of Gatan, a Roper subsidiary active in the production of specialised electron microscope peripherals, after the parties (...)

On 23 May 2019, the General Court of the European Union (“GC”) rejected a legal challenge brought against the European Commission’s (“Commission”) conditional clearance of the Liberty Global / Vodafone joint venture in the Netherlands by rival KPN (see VBB on Competition Law, Volume 2016, No. 8). (...)

On 12 April 2019, the Commission conditionally approved the acquisition by Nidec of Embraco, Whirlpool’s refrigeration compressor business. Both Nidec and Embraco are leading global producers of refrigeration compressors. These are electro-mechanical devices used to lower the temperature of an (...)

On 8 April 2019, the European Commission (“Commission”) imposed a fine of € 52 million on GE for negligently providing incorrect information to the Commission during the merger review of its acquisition of LM Wind. On 11 January 2017, GE notified its proposed acquisition of LM Wind to the (...)

On 20 March 2019, the Commission conditionally approved the acquisition of Asco by Spirit. The Commission was concerned that the deal would reduce competition in the market for aircraft slat systems. These parts allow the wing of an aircraft to operate at a higher ‘angle of attack’, which (...)

On 8 March 2019, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) fined JLA £120,000 for failure to comply with an initial enforcement order (“IEO”). Under UK competition law, the CMA may impose an IEO on merging parties to prevent them from taking pre-emptive action which might prejudice the (...)

On 22 February 2019, the European Commission (“Commission”) sent a Statement of Objections to Telefónica Deutschland alleging that it breached a commitment offered in order to secure the Commission’s approval of its acquisition of E-Plus (see VBB on Competition Law, Volume 2014, No. 7). In (...)

In a recently published decision of 6 February 2019, the European Commission waived a commitment imposed during its merger review of Air France’s acquisition of KLM in 2004. By way of background, during the 2004 review of its acquisition of KLM, Air France offered commitments to address (...)

On 6 February 2019, the European Commission (“Commission”) prohibited Siemens’ proposed acquisition of Alstom under the EU Merger Regulation. The deal would have combined Siemens’ and Alstom’s transport equipment and service activities in a new company fully controlled by Siemens. According to the (...)

On 6 February 2019, the European Commission (“Commission”) prohibited Wieland’s proposed acquisition of Aurubis. Both companies are producers of rolled copper products, a key input for many industries, including for parts used in electric cars, trains and electronic devices. The Commission’s (...)

On 19 January 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) upheld on due process grounds the 2017 judgment of the General Court (“GC”) annulling the decision of the European Commission (“Commission”) in the UPS/TNT Express merger (Case C-265/17P, Commission v. United Parcel Service). The (...)

On 27 November 2018, the European Commission (“Commission”) unconditionally approved the proposed acquisition by T-Mobile of Tele2 under the EU Merger Regulation. The transaction combines the third largest (T-Mobile) and fourth largest (Tele2) operators in the Dutch retail mobile (...)

On 7 November 2018, the European Commission conditionally approved the creation of six mobility services joint ventures by Daimler and BMW. While the joint ventures will combine Daimler and BMW’s mobility services in ride hailing services, parking services, charging services and other on-demand (...)

On 25 July 2018, Advocate General (“AG”) Kokott issued an Opinion in which she concludes that the General Court (“GC”) was correct to annul the Commission’s 2013 decision to prohibit UPS’s acquisition of its package delivery rival, TNT Express. In the decision, the Commission relied upon a “price (...)

On 19 July 2018, the French Ministry of Economy (“Ministry”) announced a revised clearance of Cofigeo’s acquisition of the ready meals business of Agripole. This is the first time in the history of French merger control that the Ministry has reviewed a transaction on public interest grounds under (...)

On 14 June 2018, the French Ministry of Economy announced its intention to carry out, for the first time, a public interest review of Cofigeo’s acquisition of the ready meals business of Agripole. In addition to a standard merger review by the French competition authority (“FCA”), French law (...)

On 11 June 2018, the CMA fined Electro Rent £100,000 for breaching an Interim Order imposed in relation to Electro Rent’s acquisition of Microlease. According to the CMA, Electro Rent had failed to obtain the CMA’s consent prior to serving a notice of termination on the lease of its only premises (...)

On 31 May 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “ECJ”) issued an important judgment on the scope of the standstill obligation contained in Article 7(1) of the EU Merger Regulation (the “EUMR”), which prohibits companies from implementing a notifiable concentration prior to clearance (...)

On 16 May 2018, the General Court (“GC”) ruled that the European Commission had failed to properly examine a request by Lufthansa to review a merger commitment given by Lufthansa in order to secure EU merger clearance of its acquisition of Swiss Airlines. In order to allay competition concerns (...)

On 14 May 2018, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) and the Austrian Federal Competition Authority (“FCA”) published for public consultation joint draft guidance on the newly introduced transaction value merger filing thresholds in Austria and Germany. By way of background, in May 2017, new (...)

On 7 May 2018, the European Commission conditionally approved the acquisition by ArcelorMittal of rival steel producer Ilva, following a phase II investigation. The Commission considered that several significant overlaps between the parties would give rise to concerns. In particular, the (...)

On 24 April 2018, the European Commission fined Altice, a Dutch-based telecom operator, € 125 million for procedural infringements of the EU Merger Regulation. By way of background, on 9 December 2014, Altice entered into an agreement to acquire sole control of PT Portugal. Altice notified the (...)

On 21 March 2018, the European Commission conditionally approved the acquisition of Monsanto by Bayer. The parties’ activities overlap in the supply of seeds, pesticides and digital agriculture. In order to obtain approval, Bayer has committed to: (i) divest its entire vegetable seed business (...)

On 6 February 2018, the European Commission conditionally approved the proposed acquisition of Scripps by Discovery. Both Discovery and Scripps are active primarily as providers of pay-TV channels to TV distributors in Europe. The Commission was concerned that the deal risked increasing (...)

On 18 January 2018, the European Commission (the “Commission”) conditionally approved the acquisition of NXP by Qualcomm. Both companies are important producers of chipsets used for smartphones and other applications. During an in-depth merger review, the Commission identified three competition (...)

On 27 November 2017, the General Court (“GC”) dismissed appeals brought by HeidelbergCement and Schwenk Zement against the European Commission’s decision of 10 October 2016 to open an in-depth (Phase II) merger investigation into their acquisition – via a joint venture – of Cemex Croatia. In their (...)

On 26 October 2017, the General Court annulled the European Commission’s conditional merger clearance decision in Liberty Global/Ziggo. The Commission had approved the acquisition of Ziggo by Dutch rival cable TV operator Liberty Global in 2014, subject to extensive conditions including the (...)

On 26 October 2017, the General Court dismissed an appeal by Marine Harvest against a € 20 million fine imposed on it by the Commission for implementing its acquisition of sole control over Morpol without rst obtaining approval under the EU Merger Regulation (see VBB on Competition Law, Volume (...)

On 23 October 2017, the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) cleared Cooperl Arc Atlantique’s acquisition of control of the cured meat division of Financière Turenne Lafayette. The FCA granted a derogation on 24 May 2017 to allow the buyer to acquire control of the target company prior to FCA (...)

On 14 September 2017, the European Commission proposed a new regulation to allow the Commission and the Member States to adopt rules for screening foreign direct investment (“FDI”) in the EU that raises concerns on grounds of security or public order (the “Proposal”). The Proposal aims to (...)

On 6 July 2017, the European Commission sent three separate statements of objections (“SO”) to companies alleging procedural breaches of the EU Merger Regulation. Provision of misleading information The first SO concerns the Merck/Sigma-Aldrich transaction, which was conditionally cleared by (...)

On 3 April 2017, the Norwegian Competition Authority (“NCA”) prohibited the proposed acquisition of Norwegian-based Nor Lines by Icelandic-based Eimskip on the basis that the € 15 million deal would reduce competition in the market for transportation of frozen fish with reefer vessels from (...)

On 29 March 2017, the Commission prohibited the proposed merger between the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and Deutsche Börse, almost one year after the parties first announced the deal, and on the day that the United Kingdom served notice of its intention to leave the European Union. The (...)

On 27 March 2017, the European Commission conditionally approved the merger between US-based companies Dow Chemical and DuPont. Both parties are active in the production of plastics, chemicals, and agro-chemicals. The Commission was concerned that the merger, as notified, would reduce (...)

On 9 March 2017, the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) fined Altice and SFR Group € 40 million for violating commitments entered into with the FCA at the conclusion of its review of the Altice/SFR merger in October 2014. By way of background, the commitments required Altice/ SFR to honour an (...)

On 7 March 2017, the General Court (“GC”) annulled the European Commission’s decision to prohibit UPS’ acquisition of TNT Express under the EU Merger Regulation. By way of background, UPS notified the acquisition of TNT Express to the Commission in June 2012. Following an in-depth Phase II (...)

On 30 January 2017, the German Competition Authority (“Bundeskartellamt”) granted permission to Lufthansa to wet-lease 38 aircraft from rival airline Air Berlin, which is currently undergoing restructuring. In the aviation industry, a wet-lease refers to the lease of an aircraft including the (...)

On 25 January 2017, the European Commission conditionally approved the acquisition of Alere by Abbott under the EU Merger Regulation. The transaction was originally notified to the Commission on 15 April 2016. In the intervening period, Alere successfully obtained orders from a Delaware court (...)

On 8 November 2016, the French Competition Authority (FCA) fined Altice (trading as Numericable) and SFR Group € 80 million for the coordination of commercial behaviour prior to obtaining French merger control clearance. The FCA decision is ground-breaking as it imposes the highest fine ever in (...)

On 17 October 2016, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) ordered Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (“ICE”) to sell Trayport to a new owner, to be approved by the CMA, in order to preserve competition on the market for the supply of certain energy trading services. ICE is the largest (...)

On 7 October 2016, the Commission published an online survey to collect views on certain procedural and jurisdictional aspects of EU merger control. According to the Commission, the purpose of the survey is to gather information on particular aspects of the performance of EU merger control. The (...)

On 1 September 2016, the European Commission conditionally cleared the proposed creation of a telecommunications joint venture between Hutchison’s H3G and VimpelCom’s WIND, a combination of the third and fourth largest operators in the Italian retail mobile market. Before the deal, the Italian (...)

On 3 August 2016, the European Commission conditionally cleared the creation of a joint venture between mobile telecom operator Vodafone and cable company Liberty Global in the Netherlands. The joint venture will offer unified communications services and will compete with KPN, the only other (...)

On 20 July 2016, the European Commission conditionally cleared the acquisition of Arianespace by Airbus Safran Launchers (“ASL”). Arianespace is a French company offering satellite launch services to private and institutional satellite operators. ASL is a 50/50 joint venture controlled by Airbus (...)

In a decision of 12 July 2016, the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf suspended the ministerial authorisation of the acquisition of the supermarket Kaiser’s Tengelmann by its competitor EDEKA. The German Minister of Economic Affairs, Sigmar Gabriel, issued a ministerial authorisation in March (...)

On 16 June 2016, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) published its final report into Iron Mountain’s acquisition of Recall, following a six-month in-depth phase II investigation. Both companies are active in records and information management services (“RIMS”). The CMA con- cluded (...)

On 24 May 2016, the Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of SABMiller, the world’s second largest brewer, by AB InBev, the world’s largest brewer. AB Inbev’s brands include Corona, Stella Artois and Budweise. SABMiller owns brands such as Miller, Peroni, Pilsner Urquell and Grolsch. The (...)

On 11 May 2016, the European Commission (“Commission”) prohibited the proposed acquisition of Telefónica’s O2 by Hutchison’s Three under the EU Merger Regulation. The Commission’s primary concern was that a combined Three/ O2 would have the ability and incentive to raise prices in the UK market for (...)

On 20 April 2016, the European Commission (“Commission”) approved the acquisition by Worldline of Equens (and its subsidiary PaySquare) under the EU Merger Regulation, subject to divestment commitments and behavioural conditions. Worldline is the incumbent operator of payment services and (...)

On 19 April 2016, Luxembourg-based telecom group Altice was ned a total of €15 million by the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) for failing to comply with certain commitments relating to the acquisition by its subsidiary, Numericable, of rival SFR. On 30 October 2014, the FCA granted its (...)

On 15 March 2016, the Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority (“BCA”) approved the acquisition of Delhaize Group by Ahold, subject to a number of conditions. Delhaize (Belgium) and Ahold (The Netherlands) are two major food retailers active in their home countries as well as in (...)

In a speech delivered in Brussels on 10 March 2016, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager discussed possible ways in which the EU merger control system could be refined. She addressed three main topics. First, Ms Vestager said it should be examined as to whether the EU notification (...)

On 11 February 2016, the Dutch Industry Appeals Tribunal (the “Tribunal”), the administrative court of last instance in competition law matters, annulled the decision of the Dutch Competition Authority (“DCA”) prohibiting the merger between Continental Bakeries and A.A. ter Beek. The Tribunal held (...)

On 4 February 2016, the European Commission conditionally approved the acquisition of Belgian mobile network operator (“MNO”) BASE by Liberty Global, which controls the Belgian telecommunications operator and mobile virtual network operator (“MVNO”) Telenet. Telenet has a significant position in a (...)

On 2 December 2015, the European Commission approved the proposed acquisition by Belgian chemicals and plastics manufacturer Solvay of US specialty chemicals and materials company Cytec, subject to conditions. Both parties are active in the specialty chemicals and plastics area, but the (...)

On 4 August 2015, the EU Commission approved the acquisition by Pfizer of Hospira, a US-based competitor in, amongst other areas, biosimilar drugs and sterile injectable drugs. In order to obtain approval, Pfizer agreed to a number of divestments designed to eliminate actual or potential (...)

On 16 June 2015, the EU Commission conditionally approved the proposed joint venture between music collective management organisations PRS for music Limited (“PRSfm”) of the UK, Föreningen Svenska Tonsättares Internationella musikbyrå u.p.a. (“STIm”) of Sweden, and Gesellschaft für musikalische (...)

On 8 June 2015, the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) lifted four-year old merger conditions from the BCA’s conditional approval of the acquisition by telecommunications operator Proximus (formerly Belgacom) of telecommunications retailer The Phone House. In 2011, the BCA’s predecessor agency, (...)

On 19 May 2015, the European Commission conditionally approved the acquisition of Jazztel by rival telecommunications provider Orange. The approval, after a lengthy Phase II investigation including a Statement of Objections issued in February, is subject to extensive commitments to facilitate a (...)

On 28 January 2015, in two separate decisions, the European Commission conditionally approved a complex transaction between pharmaceuticals producers GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Novartis that will result in: (i) GSK’s acquisition of Novartis’ human vaccines business; (ii) the formation of a joint (...)

On 22 January 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) issued its judgment in Case C-282/13, T-Mobile Austria v. Telekom- Control-Kommission, concerning whether competitors have a right under Directive 2002/21 on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks (...)

On 18 December 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) handed down a judgment on an appeal by the European Commission against a judgment of the General Court (“GC”) that reduced the fine imposed on Parker ITR and Parker Hannifin Corp. for participating in the marine hose cartel. (...)

On 27 November 2014, the General Court (“GC”) handed down two separate judgments on the appeals by Alstom and its former subsidiary Areva T&D SA (“Areva”; currently Alstom Grid SAS) against the Commission’s decision in the power transformers cartel case. The GC annulled the decision in so far as (...)

The Brussels Commercial Court dismisses European Union’s damages claim in lifts and escalators cartel case On 24 November 2014, the Brussels Commercial Court dismissed, for lack of sufficient evidence, the first action for damages ever brought by the European Commission on behalf of the (...)

On 23 July 2014, the European Commission imposed a € 20 million fine on Marine Harvest for acquiring Morpol without first obtaining merger clearance. The decision is notably similar in key respects to the 2009 decision fining Electrabel for its delay in notifying its 2003 acquisition of (...)

On 17 July 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) answered a request for a preliminary ruling from a Greek Court (Monomeles Protodikeio Athinon) inquiring as to whether the use by Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (“Honda”) of its trademarks to prevent the importation of Honda (...)

According to a recently published judgment of the lower regional court of Frankfurt (the “Court”) of 18 June 2014, a general ban on sales by distributors over third party Internet platforms and a prohibition on the use of price-comparison sites constitutes a hardcore restriction of competition (...)

According to a press release issued on 15 May 2014, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) prohibited a proposed merger on the market for acute hospitals in the districts of Esslingen and Kirchheim/Nürtingen. Consistent with past decisions, the FCO examined the effects of the merger on narrow (...)

On 8 May 2014, the European Commission conditionally cleared the joint venture combining the European chlorvinyls businesses of INEOS of Switzerland and Solvay of Belgium. During an in-depth review of the deal, the Commission expressed concerns regarding two markets: the North West European (...)

On 5 March 2014, the Regional Court of Budapest annulled a decision adopted by the Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) on 28 October 2010, fining several milling companies a total of 2.3 billion HUF (approximately € 7.65 million at current exchange rates) for their participation in a hardcore (...)

On 5 August 2013, the European Commission conditionally approved the proposed merger between US Airways Group and AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines. Both US Airways and American Airlines are major US commercial airlines. The Commission examined the competitive (...)

On 12 July 2013, the Swedish Competition Authority (SCA) announced that it has submitted an application to the Stockholm City Court requesting the prohibition of a planned acquisition of locksmiths company Prokey AB by Assa Abloy AB. Prokey is one of two companies active in the wholesale (...)

On 14 June 2013, the European Commission unconditionally approved the acquisition of ruggedized mobile computer supplier Intermec by technology manufacturing conglomerate Honeywell. The Commission’s focus was on the parties’ production of ruggedized mobile computers, barcode scanners, (...)

On 27 March 2013, the European Commission opened a consultation on proposed revisions to its Notice on Simplified Procedure and Merger Implementing Regulation. The proposed amendments are intended to increase the number of transactions that can benefit from the so-called “simplified (...)

On 7 March 2013, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) rejected the application for interim measures by Électricité de France (“EDF”), which had sought to postpone its obligation to decide whether to sell or invest in a particular power plant project, as required by previous merger commitments. (...)

On 28 February 2013 (one day after the European Commission blocked Ryanair’s third attempt to acquire Aer Lingus), the UK Competition Commission (“CC”) announced that it will reopen a long-running inquiry into Ryanair’s acquisition of a minority stake in Aer Lingus. This investigation has (...)

On 27 February 2013, the European Commission prohibited Irish low-cost airline Ryanair’s proposed acquisition of former Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus. Extensive remedy proposals proved insufficient to sway the Commission, which considered the two firms to be each other’s closest – and on (...)

In a judgment of 26 February 2013, the German Regional Court of Cologne rejected an action for damages in the amount of more than € 1.1 billion by Danish hearing-aid manufacturer GN Store Nord A/S against the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO). GN Store sought compensation from the FCO for (...)

On 25 February 2013, the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (“FCCA”) made a proposal to the Market Court to prohibit a planned concentration between Uponor Oyj and KWH-Yhtymä Oyj, the two largest suppliers of plastic infrastructure pipe systems in Finland. This is only the third such (...)

On 22 February 2013, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) prohibited the proposed acquisition of Germany’s third-largest cable network operator, Tele Columbus GmbH (“Tele Columbus”), by the country’s biggest cable network operator, Kabel Deutschland Holding AG (“Kabel Deutschland”). (...)

On 18 February 2013, the European Commission unconditionally cleared the acquisition by Japanese imaging equipment company Canon of Belgian software provider I.R.I.S.. The transaction did not meet the EU notification thresholds, but was referred to the European Commission by the (...)

On 7 February 2013, the Spanish Competition Authority (“CNC”) imposed its highest ever fine for a breach of commitments in a merger case. The fine was imposed on Spanish television group Mediaset based on commitments it made in exchange for CNC approval of the acquisition of Cuatro by (...)

On 7 May 2014, the European Commission published a summary version of its 30 January 2013 decision prohibiting the acquisition of package delivery service TNT Express by rival United Parcel Service (UPS) (see VBB on Competition Law, Volume 2013, No. 1). The Commission had prohibited the deal (...)

According to a press release of 15 January 2013, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) has imposed a fine of € 90,000 on Clemens Tönnies, the majority shareholder of Tönnies Holding GmbH & Co. KG (“Tönnies Holding”), for the non-disclosure in a merger notification of Mr Tönnies’ personal (...)

At the end of December 2012, the Portuguese Competition Authority fined the Portuguese National Pharmacy Association and two subsidiaries of Portuguese company Farminveste € 150,000 for implementing their acquisition of pharmaceutical company ParaRede-Glintt without obtaining prior merger (...)

On 21 December 2012, the French Council of State (the highest administrative court in France) reduced a fine imposed on pay-TV operators Vivendi and Canal Plus for breaching commitments entered into in the context of the conditional clearance of their acquisition of TV channels TPS and (...)

On 13 December 2012, the English Court of Appeal (CA) rejected Ryanair’s appeal against a Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) judgment allowing the Competition Commission (CC) to review Ryanair’s acquisition of a minority stake in rival airline company Aer Lingus. In August 2012, the CAT (...)

On 22 November 2012, the European Commission conditionally approved the acquisition of Xstrata by rival mining group Glencore. The Commission was concerned that the transaction, as initially notified, could significantly strengthen Glencore’s already strong position as the largest (...)

On 6 November 2012, the European Court of Justice dismissed two appeals by Editions Odile Jacob against judgments of the General Court in the Lagardère/VUP case. The acquisition by Lagardère of part of rival publishing company Vivendi Universal Publishing was approved by the Commission (...)

On 5 October 2012, details were published concerning a 5 September 2012 decision by the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) prohibiting a proposed merger between two hospitals in Worms, a city on the west bank of the Rhine River in southwest Germany. According to the FCO, the proposed (...)

On 21 September 2012, the European Commission conditionally cleared the proposed acquisition by Universal Music Group of EMI’s recorded music business, following a phase II investigation. The Commission’s phase II investigation focused on the effects of the deal on the wholesale market (...)

On 12 September 2012, the Italian Competition Authority adjusted its merger control thresholds. As a result, mergers are now subject to notification in Italy if either the combined turnover of the parties in Italy exceeds € 474 million or the turnover of the target company in Italy exceeds (...)

On 26 July 2012, following a Phase II investigation, the European Commission granted conditional approval to the acquisition of Goodrich Corporation by United Technologies Corporation (UTC), both US-based companies active in the production and sale of aviation equipment on a worldwide (...)

On 9 July 2012, the French Competition Authority fined meat processing company Bigard Group € 1 million for breaching a commitment imposed in the Authority’s 2009 conditional clearance decision of Bigard Group’s acquisition of Socopa Viandes. The decision had cleared the transaction subject (...)

On 28 June 2012, the European Court of Justice handed down two judgments on appeals by the European Commission in cases concerning the disclosure to third parties of documents relating to proceedings under the EU Merger Regulation. The first case concerns the Commission’s refusal to (...)

On 16 May 2012, following a Phase II investigation, the European Commission approved the acquisition of control by German company Südzucker, Europe’s largest sugar producer, over UK company ED&F MAN, the world’s second largest sugar trader and also a producer of sugar. The deal had been (...)

On 11 May 2012, the French Competition Authority imposed a fine of € 392,000 on supermarket group Colruyt for having implemented a concentration in France without having first notified and received approval from the Competition Authority. In May 2011, the French Competition Authority (...)

By decision of 12 March 2012, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) prohibited aerated concrete manufacturer Xella International Holdings S.à.r.l. (“Xella”) from acquiring its rival H+H International A/S (“H+H”). Xella, a building materials group from Luxemburg that is active in 30 (...)

On 28 December 2011, the Spanish National Competition Commission (CNC) agreed to authorise the acquisition by Verifone Systems, Inc. (Verifone) of sole control of Hypercom Corporation (Hypercom) in the first phase, subject to compliance with commitments offered by Verifone. The (...)

In a decision of 22 December 2011, the European Commission unconditionally cleared the proposed acquisition of the logistics business of Wincanton International by its German rival Rhenus. The Commission examined the effects of the transaction on the markets of contract logistics, (...)

In a recently published judgment of 6 December 2011, the German Federal Court of Justice overturned a judgment in which the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf annulled a decision of the German Federal Cartel Office prohibiting the acquisition by Total Deutschland GmbH of 59 petrol (...)

According to a press release of 17 November 2011, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) has prohibited German slaughterhouse Tönnies from acquiring its competitor Tummel. The FCO held that, even before the proposed transaction, Tönnies already held a dominant position on the German (...)

In a judgment of 21 July 2011, the European Court of Justice annulled a judgment of the General Court, which upheld a decision by the European Commission refusing access to certain documents in the Airtours/First Choicecase file. In 1999, Airtours launched a bid to acquire First Choice, a (...)

On 18 July 2011, the Dutch Competition Authority cleared the acquisition by telecom operator Vodafone of BelCompany, a chain of telecom shops, subject to conditions relating to the sale of phone subscriptions. The Competition Authority held that the transaction, as initially notified, created a (...)

In a phase II decision of 13 July 2011, the European Commission unconditionally cleared the acquisition of Myllykoski and Rhein Papier by rival paper manufacturer UPM-Kymmene. During its phase I review, the Commission found that the merged entity would have a high market share in magazine (...)

On 8 June 2011, the European Commission announced that the notification of the proposed acquisition by SC Johnson & Son Inc of the household insect control business of Sara Lee Corporation had been withdrawn. The proposed transaction had been notified to the Commission on 3 November 2010. (...)

In a decision of 19 May 2011, the European Commission unconditionally cleared the creation of a joint venture between Dutch pharmaceutical company DSM and Chinese State-owned conglomerate Sinochem. The joint venture will be active primarily in antibiotics and other anti-infective products. In (...)

On 4 May 2011, following an in-depth second phase investigation, the European Commission unconditionally cleared the creation of a joint venture between Votorantim and Fischer, combining their orange juice businesses. By combining two of the largest orange juice businesses in the world, the (...)

In a recently published decision of 3 May 2011, the European Commission waived certain commitments imposed as a condition of its approval of the acquisition of Boehringer Mannheim by Hoffman-La Roche in February 1998. In the 1998 decision, the Commission found that Hoffman-La Roche’s dominant (...)

On 28 April 2011, the European Commission published for consultation draft Best Practices for cooperation between Member State competition authorities in the review of concentrations that fall outside the scope of the EU Merger Regulation but have to be notified in more than one Member State. (...)

The Polish Court of Competition and Consumer Protection recently upheld two decisions of the Polish Competition Authority prohibiting concentrations, one in the market for railway turnouts and another in the market for waste battery treatment. In the second case, decided on 13 April 2011, the (...)

According to a case summary of 12 April 2011 published on the German Federal Cartel Office’s website, the Cartel Office found that CTS Eventim’s already implemented acquisition of See Tickets Germany/Ticket Online Gruppe fell outside the scope of German merger control because the parties’ (...)

In an order of 8 April 2011, the General Court (“GC”) refused to grant the third party Canonical leave to intervene in the appeal by Monty Program against the European Commission’s decision to approve the acquisition by Oracle of Sun Microsystems. On 21 January 2010, the European Commission (...)

The Polish Court of Competition and Consumer Protection recently upheld two decisions of the Polish Competition Authority prohibiting concentrations, one in the market for railway turnouts and another in the market for waste battery treatment. In the first judgment, adopted on 5 April 2011, (...)

According to a press release of 18 March 2011, the German Federal Cartel Office has prohibited the plans of broadcasting groups RTL and Pro7Sat1 to form a joint venture for the creation and operation of an online video platform. In its statement of objections of 23 February 2011, the Cartel (...)

In a recent speech, Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said that the European Commission is examining whether acquisitions of minority shareholdings, falling short of an acquisition of control, should be subject to EU merger control. Under the current Merger Regulation, acquisitions of a (...)

On 11 September 2012, the European Commission published a decision refusing a request by SC Johnson for a partial derogation from the standstill obligation under the EU Merger Regulation in order to close its acquisition of Sara Lee’s household insecticide business outside of the EEA. (...)

On 3 February 2011, the Polish Competition Authority prohibited the acquisition by Empik, the leading Polish book and CD store, of its online competitor Merlin.pl. Following an in-depth investigation, the Competition Authority concluded that the planned acquisition would lead to serious (...)

According to a press release of 28 January 2011, the German Federal Cartel Office imposed a fine of € 414,000 on agricultural cooperative ZG Raiffeisen for implementing a concentration without first obtaining clearance from the Cartel Office. In particular, the Cartel Office held that the May (...)

On 25 January 2011, the UK Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced that he is “minded” to refer News Corp‘s proposed buy-out of UK satellite broadcaster BSkyB to the Competition Commission due to concerns surrounding the transaction’s impact on media plurality in the UK. News Corp already owns a (...)

Irish air carrier Ryanair has recently launched an appeal before the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) against a decision of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) finding that the OFT has jurisdiction under UK merger control law to review Ryanair’s acquisition of a minority stake in competing (...)

According to a recent press-release, the Austrian Competition Authority cleared a merger between two competing food wholesalers, subject to pricing commitments. The Competition Authority held that the transaction, as initially notified, would give rise to competition concerns because the (...)

In a decision of 29 November 2010, the Belgian Competition Council amended a condition that was imposed in 2003 on cable network operator Telenet‘s acquisition of pay-TV provider Canal+. The condition in question essentially required Telenet to offer its pay-TV content to competing network (...)

On 16 November 2010, the French Competition Authority rejected an antitrust complaint directed against certain exclusivity arrangements concluded by Groupe Canal Plus on the French pay TV markets, insofar as these arrangements were “ancillary” to the French Minister of Economy’s Canal (...)

On 4 November 2010, the UK Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills instigated an investigation by the UK Office of Communications (Ofcom) into the implications that News Corp’s proposed buyout of UK satellite broadcaster BSkyB may have for media plurality in the UK. The first (...)

On 18 October 2010, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto announced that they have abandoned plans to enter into a proposed $120 billion joint venture combining their Western Australian iron ore production activities in light of strong resistance from regulators, including the Commission and the German (...)

On 16 September 2010, the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission published the first set of consolidated joint Merger Assessment Guidelines under the UK Enterprise Act 2002, which governs merger control law in the UK. The guidelines supersede various merger control guidance (...)

On 20 July 2010, the European Commission relieved Italian digital satellite TV company Sky Italia from one of the commitments given in the context of the 2003 Newscorp/Telepiuacquisition. This allows Sky Italia now to bid in the upcoming tender for the allocation of digital terrestrial TV (...)

On 7 July 2010, the General Court issued a judgment on an appeal by Agrofert Holding against a decision by the European Commission refusing to disclose documents in its PKN Orlen/Unipetrolmerger case file. On 20 April 2005, the Commission approved the acquisition of Unipetrol, a Czech oil (...)

On 7 July 2010, the European Commission cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of the Privileg trademark and other rights by Whirlpool Corporation, a US-incorporated multinational company. This case is interesting from an intellectual property perspective because an (...)

According to a press release of the Austrian Competition Authority of 22 June 2010, the Austrian Cartel Court has imposed a fine of € 5,000 on a company belonging to an international group of companies that had put a concentration into effect without prior notification to the Austrian (...)

On 18 June 2010, the European Commission conditionally cleared the planned acquisition by Danish shipping company DFDS of Dutch rival Norfolk. During the phase I review, the Commission expressed concerns that the acquisition, as initially notified, would restrict competition in the market for (...)

On 18 June 2010, the European Commission conditionally cleared the creation of the New Eurostar joint venture between French incumbent railway operator SNCF, UK railway operator London Continental Railways and Belgian railway operator NMBS/SNCB. The New Eurostar joint venture will operate the (...)

On 11 June 2010, the Greek Competition Authority conditionally cleared the acquisition of Shell Hellas by Motor Oil Hellas Corinth Refineries. The Competition Authority held that the transaction, as initially notified, would create or strengthen a dominant position on certain retail markets (...)

In a recently published order of 9 June 2010, the European Court of Justice set the amount of damages that the European Commission must pay to Schneider Electric SA. This order follows the European Court’s judgment of 16 July 2009 finding that, because of errors made by the Commission in the (...)

In a judgment of 9 June 2010, the General Court annulled a decision by the European Commission refusing to disclose to Editions Odile Jacob certain documents of the Commission’s Lagardère/Natexis/VUPmerger proceedings case file. In the Lagardère/Natexis/VUPdecision of January 2004, the Commission (...)

On 21 May 2010, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) prohibited the planned acquisition by automotive parts supplier Magna Car Top Systems GmbH (“Magna”) of the convertible roof systems business of Karmann GmbH (“Karmann”). In December 2009, the German Federal Cartel Office cleared the merger (...)

On 5 June 2010, details were published in the Official Journal of the European Union of a damages action before the General Court brought by Communauté de communes de Lacq (a French local authority) against the European Union, requesting compensation for injury allegedly suffered by the (...)

On 1 February 2010, the Danish Competition Authority revoked its earlier decision approving the takeover by Danish Agro of its competitor Landbrugets Andel, both active in the agricultural sector. The approval decision was largely based on the Danish Competition Authority’s understanding that (...)

The French Competition Authority recently conditionally cleared the acquisition by leading French broadcaster TF1 Group of sole control over NT1 and TMC, two digital terrestrial television channels. According to its press release, the Competition Authority found that the proposed transaction – (...)

According to a press release of 13 January 2010, the French Competition Authority has conditionally cleared the acquisition by SNCF of Keolis and Effia. SNCF is the incumbent rail transport operator in France, Keolis is a leading operator on the markets for urban and inter-urban passenger (...)

The Hungarian Competition Council recently imposed a fine of HUF 4,975,000 (approximately € 18,400) on energy company ELMIB Energetikai Szolgáltató Zrt. and the Municipality of Tatabánya, a city in North-West Hungary, for the failure to timely notify their joint acquisition of thermal power station (...)

According to a press release of 20 November 2009, the Portuguese Competition Authority has prohibited the acquisition by Portuguese airline TAP of Serviços Portugueses de Handling, a ground handling services provider. The Competition Authority held that Serviços Portugueses de Handling already (...)

According to a press release of 19 November 2009, the Romanian Competition Council carried out unannounced inspections (so-called “dawn raids”) at the premises of Advent and Ozone Laboratories, in the framework of its investigation of a notified merger between these two companies. Although the (...)

On 16 October 2009, the French Competition Authority conditionally cleared SNCF‘s acquisition of Novatrans. SNCF is the French incumbent rail transport provider and Novatrans is the leading provider of combined road and rail transport in France. The Competition Authority expressed concerns that, (...)

According to recent press releases, the Polish Competition Authority has blocked two transactions. The first transaction was a merger between Cogifer and Koltram, two companies selling railroad switches (i.e., mechanical installations that guide trains from one railway trackto another). (...)

According to recent press releases, the Polish Competition Authority has blocked two transactions. The second transaction was the sale of the “Gellwe” foodstuffs trademark by Rieber Foods Polska to FoodCare. The Polish Competition Authority held that this sale would result in a substantial (...)

On 30 September 2009, the Court of First Instance adopted an order dismissing an appeal brought by the Independent Music Publishers and Labels Association (Impala) against the European Commission’s second decision clearing the joint venture between the global recorded music businesses of Sony (...)

According to a recent press release, the Austrian Competition Authority has conditionally cleared a proposed joint venture between oil companies BP, Shell and OMV. The joint venture provides refuelling services at Salzburg airport, but does not itself sell fuel (this is done separately by the (...)

On 20 September 2009, the French Council of State dismissed an appeal brought against the French Minister of Economy’s decision of December 2006 approving the acquisition by Deloitte of BDO Marque & Gendrot. Deloitte is one of the “Big Four” audit firms, while BDO Marque & Gendrot is a (...)

On 28 August 2009 the Polish Competition Authority imposed a fine of over 540,000 zł (approximately € 130,000) on Carrefour B.V.for failure to satisfy structural remedies ordered in a 2007 decision conditionally clearing Carrefour’s acquisition of Ahold Polska Sp. z o.o. Under the terms of the (...)

On 31 July 2009, a press release was published on the European Commission’s website announcing that Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes has “instructed her services to draft a conditional clearance decision” for the proposed acquisition of Austrian Airlines by Lufthansa. The draft decision will (...)

On 9 July 2009, the French Competition Authority published for consultation on its website a draft version of its new merger guidelines, which are intended to replace guidelines that were issued in 2004. Interestingly, the draft merger guidelines contain an annex setting out a recommended (...)

On 30 June 2009, the Court of First Instance adopted an order dismissing Impala‘s appeal against the European Commission’s first decision clearing the joint venture between the global recorded music businesses of Sony Corporation and Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG). This dismissal is the most (...)

On 8 May 2009, the FCO unconditionally cleared the acquisition by RWE Energy of all district heating activities of Exxon Mobile in Germany, among other reasons, because the local district heating markets had a turnover below the de minimis market threshold of euros 15 million. The FCO left open (...)

In a judgment of 7 May 2009, the Court of First Instance dismissed an appeal against the Commission’s decision unconditionally clearing the acquisition by Sovion of Hendrix Meat Group. The appellants (three interested third parties in the Commission’s Sovion/HMG proceedings) argued before the (...)

According to a press release of 29 April 2009, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) prohibited the proposed acquisition by Total, which owns the fourth largest petrol station network in Germany, of 59 petrol stations in Eastern Germany owned by OMV Deutschland GmbH. In the FCO’s view, the (...)

On 25 March 2009, the new domestic turnover threshold under German merger control law entered into force. Under the new law, in addition to the requirement that one party achieves turnover in Germany of more than € 25 million, at least one other party will now need to have more than € 5 million (...)

In March 2009, the Hungarian Competition Authority conditionally cleared the concentration between Cemex Austria and Strabag, requiring the parties to divest a mixing station in a regional market for ready-mixed concrete where the merged entity would have a market share of more than 90%. (...)

The Norwegian Competition Authority (“NCA”) has recently adopted a regulation which amends the obligation under the Norwegian Competition Act on parties to a proposed concentration to suspend the implementation of the concentration prior to obtaining clearance from the NCA. Under the old rules, (...)

In a recently published decision of 9 March 2009, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) opened a new investigation and imposed additional conditions on a previously cleared concentration in the asphalt sector. In 2005, the FCO cleared the acquisition by Werhahn & Nauen of several entities (...)

In a recently published decision of 5 March 2009, the French Minister of Economy unconditionally cleared the acquisition by Bertrand Distribution Group of joint control over AB InBev’s French distribution companies, which are active in the wholesale commercialisation of beverages in France. (...)

In a recently published decision of 5 March 2009, the Polish Competition Authority (“PCA”) prohibited the acquisition of Baterpol by Orzeł Biały because of monopsony concerns in the Polish market for recycling industrial and car batteries. Baterpol and Orzeł Biały are the only two companies active (...)

According to a press release, on 5 March 2009, the Polish Competition Authority prohibited the acquisition of Baterpol by Orzeł Biały. Although only limited details are publicly available at this stage, it appears that these two Polish companies are the only two buyers in Poland of waste (...)

According to a press release of 13 February 2009, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) fined German publishing company Druck- und Verlagshaus Frankfurt am Main GmbH (DuV) € 4.13 million for implementing a concentration prior to obtaining clearance (i.e., so-called “gun-jumping”). In 2001, DuV (...)

On 3 February 2009, Advocate General Ruiz Jarabo-Colomer issued his opinion to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the appeal proceedings against the Schneider judgment of the Court of First Instance (CFI). In this judgment of 11 July 2007, the CFI held that Schneider must be compensated for (...)

In a decision dated 30 January 2009, the Norwegian Competition Authority imposed a fine of NOK150,000 (approximately € 17,000) on a ship broker, RS Platou ASA, for breaching the suspension obligation in connection with its takeover of Glitnir Securities AS, a provider of brokerage services, (...)

On 10 December 2008, the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ruled on an appeal against the decision of the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, Lord Mandelson, to clear the proposed acquisition of UK banking group HBOS by competitor Lloyds TSB. In September 2008, (...)

In a recently published decision of 26 November 2008, the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf affirmed the decision of the Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) prohibiting the Swiss hearing aid manufacturer Phonak Holding AG (“Phonak”) from acquiring its Danish competitor GN Store Nord AS(“GN ReSound”). (...)

In a recently published decision of 8 November 2008, the Belgian Competition Council conditionally cleared the acquisition of Scarlet by Belgacom, following a phase II investigation. Belgacom, the incumbent telecommunications operator in Belgium, is active on a number of retail and wholesale (...)

In a phase II decision of 5 November 2008, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) prohibited the acquisition of SimonsVoss AG by Assa Abloy AB. SimonsVoss is a German manufacturer of electronic lock cylinders. Assa Abloy is a Swedish company active worldwide in mechanical locking systems, (...)

On 18 September 2008, the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform issued an intervention notice in respect of the recently announced acquisition of UK banking group HBOS by competitor Lloyds TSB. Lloyds TSB‘s acquisition of HBOS is effectively a rescue plan prompted by (...)

On 28 October 2008, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the functioning of the EC Merger Regulation. According to the Commission, the main purpose of the consultation is to evaluate how the jurisdictional thresholds and the referral mechanisms provided for in the Merger (...)

On 29 September 2008, the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT”) issued its ruling on two rival appeals brought by BSkyB and Virgin Media against the decision of the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform of earlier this year ordering BSkyB to reduce its interest in (...)

On 15 September 2008, the Commission cleared the proposed acquisition by Sony Corporation of America of the 50 % share held by Bertelsmann AG in SonyBMG on the basis of Article 6 (1) (b) of the EC Merger Regulation. According to the Commission’s press release, the Commission found that the (...)

On 8 September 2008, the Commission opened an in-depth investigation into the planned acquisition by KLM of fellow Dutch-carrier Martinair. Both KLM and Martinair, whose shares are currently split evenly between KLM and sea and land transport company Maersk, are active in air transport of (...)

The German government recently approved a draft piece of legislation prepared by the Ministry of Economy that is aimed at reducing bureaucratic barriers for small and medium-sized businesses. One of the suggested amendments concerns Article 35 (1) of the German Act against Restraints of (...)

The Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC) has imposed a fine of € 9,000 on Lafarge AEVE for failing to submit a post-closing notification of its acquisition of Synergatiki AEVE with the HCC. Under Greek law, any concentration that results in or increases a market share of at least 10% in Greece, (...)

On 3 July 2008, the Swedish Competition Authority conditionally cleared OneMed’s acquisition of Simonsen Material Holding, following an in-depth investigation. In order to safeguard competition on the post-merger market for the wholesale supply of medical equipment to communes in Sweden, where (...)

On 14 May 2008, the Danish Competition Council prohibited the acquisition by J.F. Lemvig-Müller Holding A/S of Brdr. A&O Johansen A/S. Both companies are active in Denmark on the wholesale markets for plumbing/heating materials and electricity materials sold to professional customers, i.e. (...)

On 14 May 2008, the European Commission unconditionally cleared the proposed acquisition by TomTom of Tele Atlas, following an in-depth investigation. TomTom is the European market leader in navigation software and satellite navigation devices (also known as SatNavs). Tele Atlas is one of only (...)

On 14 May 2008, the Commission continued its phase II investigation in a separate case in the same sector: mobile handset manufacturer Nokia’s planned acquisition of Navteq. The Commission opened an in-depth investigation in this case on 28 March 2008 due to concerns about vertical foreclosure, (...)

In a recently published decision, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) unconditionally cleared the acquisition by Kabel Deutschland GmbH of part of Orion Cable GmbH, holding that the efficiencies generated by the acquisition would outweigh the negative effects resulting from the strengthening (...)

In an order of 18 March 2008, the President of the European Court of First Instance (CFI) dismissed a request for interim measures brought by Aer Lingus in its appeal against a European Commission decision finding that it had no power to require Ryanair to divest its minority stake in Aer (...)

In a judgment of 18 March 2008, the Brussels Court of Appeal annulled the Belgian Competition Council’s decision of 16 April 2007 lifting the conditions it had imposed in 1997 on the merger between Belgian cinema groups Bert and Claeys, which created leading Belgian cinema group Kinepolis. In (...)

According to a press release of 28 February 2008, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) prohibited A-TEC Industries’ acquisition of a 13.75% shareholding in Norddeutsche Affinerie, holding that the transaction created a dominant position on a market for a particular kind of oxygen-free copper (...)

On 31 January 2008, the European Commission announced that it has initiated infringement proceedings under Article 226 EC against Spain for failing to lift restrictions imposed by the Spanish National Energy Commission (CNE) on the Enel/Acciona/Endesa transaction. The acquisition by Enel and (...)

On 25 January 2008, the French Directorate for Competition, Consumption and Combating Fraud (DGCCRF) published two decisions conditionally clearing separate transactions in the press and media sector. The first decision concerned the acquisition of the French financial daily newspaper Les (...)

On 25 January 2008, the French Directorate for Competition, Consumption and Combating Fraud (DGCCRF) published two decisions conditionally clearing separate transactions in the press and media sector. The second decision concerned the acquisition by Hersant Média Group (HMG) of several (...)

On 15 May 2008, the European Commission announced that it has formally asked Spain to withdraw, within one month, the conditions that were imposed by the Spanish National Energy Commission (CNE) and the Spanish Minister of Industry and Tourism on the Enel/Acciona/Endesa transaction, in spite of (...)

In a recently published phase II decision, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) prohibited the vertical merger between Faber Straßen- und Tiefbau GmbH (Faber), which is active in the German road construction sector, and asphalt mix company Basalt-Actien-Gesellschaft(BAG). As a result of the (...)

In a recently published judgment of 25 September 2007, the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) annulled a decision of the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf which rejected an appeal against a prohibition decision of the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) because the parties had already (...)

Two Dutch livestock organisations are seeking to annul the European Commission’s 21 December 2004 decision approving the acquisition by Sovionof Hendrix Meat Group. The appellants are challenging the Commission’s conclusion that the transaction between slaughterhouses would not significantly (...)