Catherine Gordley

On 5 May 2021, the Commission adopted a proposal for a Regulation on foreign subsidies distorting the internal market (“Proposed Regulation”), following on from an initial framework laid out in a White Paper in June 2020. Broadly speaking, through the Proposed Regulation, the Commission aims to (...)

On 3 May 2021, the Commission imposed a € 7.5 million fine on Sigma-Aldrich for providing incorrect and misleading information during the Commission’s review of its acquisition by Merck. While this is only the third fine the Commission has imposed on this basis, it extends the Commission’s (...)

On 23 March 2021, the European Commission (“Commission”) published Guidance outlining its new approach in accepting and encouraging referrals under Article 22 of the Merger Regulation of deals that fail to meet either the EU or Member State turnover thresholds but that nonetheless affect (...)

On 16 March 2021, the European Commission, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”), the Canadian Competition Authority and the US competition authorities announced the formation of a trans-Atlantic working group to exchange best practices on pharmaceutical mergers. Pharmaceutical mergers (...)

On 19 February 2021, the Commission conditionally cleared the acquisition of Varian by Siemens’ subsidiary Siemens Healthineers. Varian is a leading US supplier of radiotherapy solutions used to plan and deliver radiotherapy treatment, while German-based Siemens Healthineers is a leading (...)

On 18 February 2021, the Commission imposed final measures on aluminium manufacturer Novelis related to the belated divestment of a production plant required as a condition of the Commission’s clearance of the Novelis/ Aleris merger in 2019. Novelis had obtained conditional clearance to acquire (...)

On 13 January 2021, the European Commission (“Commission”) conditionally cleared the London Stock Exchange Group’s (“LSEG”) acquisition of financial data products provider Refinitiv following an in-depth (Phase 2) investigation. LSEG is a leading financial infrastructure company, which operates the (...)

On 17 December 2020, following a Phase II investigation, the Commission approved Google’s acquisition of Fitbit subject to commitments. Fitbit is an American company that develops and sells wearable fitness devices such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, as well as related software and (...)

On 2 December 2020, the Commission published a readiness notice addressing the effect of the end of the Brexit Transition Period on EU antitrust and merger review. The UK Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) published its own guidance document on 1 December 2020. While the UK officially (...)

On 13 November 2020, the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT”) upheld an appeal brought by JD Sports against the Competition and Markets Authority’s (“CMA”) decision to prohibit its already completed acquisition of rival retailer Footasylum. On 6 May 2020, the CMA had blocked the merger between the (...)

On 19 October 2020, the Polish Competition Authority (“UOKiK”) issued a decision authorising the Cayman Islands-based H&F Corporate Investors VIII Ltd. to acquire the Center for Electronic Settlements Polish ePayments S.A. The transaction was not notified to the UOKiK under the normal merger (...)

On 6 October 2020, the Portuguese Competition Authority (“AdC”) issued a decision prohibiting the Transdev Group’s acquisition of Grupo Fundão as well as public transport service concessions currently held by Transerramar and Auto Transportes do Fundão. Both Transdev and Grupo Fundão occupy strong (...)

On 30 September 2020, the European Commission (“Commission”) conditionally cleared Worldline’s acquisition of Ingenico, two French providers of payment and transaction services. The Commission raised concerns that the parties’ activities overlapped in the provision of point-of-sale (“POS”) merchant (...)

On 31 July 2020, the European Commission (the “Commission”) announced its conditional clearance of Alstom’s acquisition of Bombardier Transportation. Both the target, a German subsidiary of Canadian Bombardier Inc., and the French acquirer, Alstom, are global companies active in rail (...)

On 14 July 2020, the European Commission (the “Commis‐ sion”) conditionally approved PKN Orlen’s acquisition of rival Grupa Lotos (“Lotos”) after a Phase II investigation. The parties are large Polish oil and gas companies active in Poland and in a number of other Central European, East‐ ern European (...)

From 10-12 June 2020, the OECD held its 133rd Meeting of the Competition Committee. This session was devoted to assessing the sufficiency of current merger control frameworks to investigate and – where needed – prohibit mergers that eliminate nascent competition that would other- wise challenge (...)

On 8 June 2020, the Commission announced its conditional clearance of Elanco’s purchase of Bayer’s animal health division (“BAH”). Both Elanco and BAH are global developers and suppliers of veterinary pharmaceuticals, and the transaction will establish the largest animal health company worldwide. (...)

1. Summary On 28 May 2020, the EU General Court handed down a ruling annulling the European Commission’s (“Commission”) decision prohibiting the proposed acquisition of Telefónica UK (“O2”) by Hutchison 3G UK (“Three”). The ruling has potentially significant implications for mergers in the telecoms (...)

In the last few years, the European Commission and national competition authorities have demonstrated an increased interest in investigating and punishing gun jumping. This development is part of a broader effort by the Commission to tighten its review of compliance with procedural aspects of the EU’s merger control regime.