Nigel Parr

Introduction A new national security notification regime On 11 November 2020, the UK Government introduced its National Security and Investment Bill ("Bill") into Parliament, which will significantly strengthen its powers to investigate and potentially prohibit transactions on national (...)

Lower notification thresholds under UK merger control for certain additional sectors impacting national security entered into force on 21 July. The lower thresholds now cover transactions related to the development, production, supply or research of: artificial intelligence (new) cryptographic (...)

Sector inquiry launched into the Internet of Things On 16 July 2020, the European Commission ("Commission") launched an antitrust competition inquiry into the sector of Internet of Things ("IoT") for consumer-related products and services in the EU. The inquiry complements other actions (...)

On 1 July 2020, the UK Competition & Markets Authority ("CMA") published its final report following a 12-month market study into online platforms and digital advertising in the UK (the "Final Report"). The Final Report concludes that, due to the dynamic nature of digital advertising, (...)

While some businesses may choose to delay transactions in light of Covid-19, many transactions will clearly continue and some of these will need to be completed with some urgency, in particular in cases of financial distress. Merger control regimes are still in operation, although there have been some changes, in particular to encourage parties to delay notifications. This note considers how merger control processes can best be navigated in times of crisis, for example, where the urgent completion of a transaction may be required, or the target is otherwise in significant financial difficulty.

On 22 April 2020, the European Commission ("Commission") announced plans to adopt an exceptional derogation from the EU competition rules for the milk, flowers and potatoes sectors based on Article 222 of Regulation 1308/2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural (...)

On 8 April 2020, the European Commission ("Commission") published a Temporary Framework Communication ("Communication") to provide antitrust guidance to companies cooperating in response to urgent situations related to the Covid-19 outbreak. The Commission also announced that it issued a (...)

Whilst Covid-19 is not expected to lead to changes to the core legal and policy principles underpinning merger control regimes around the world, it is worth noting that: merger control regimes are still in operation, albeit filing processes and regulatory reviews may take a bit longer and some (...)

The Court of Appeal on 5 March 2020 handed down a judgment upholding the ruling of the Competition Appeal Tribunal ("CAT") of July 2019 which found Network Rail had infringed the Chapter I and II prohibitions of the Competition Act 1998 by requiring, in its schemes governing suppliers’ access to (...)

On 19 February 2020, the European Commission ("Commission") published a Communication on shaping Europe’s digital future ("Digital Future Communication") together with a Communication on a European data strategy ("Data Strategy"), which contain a number of statements relating to EU competition (...)

On 14 November 2019, Ofcom issued an infringement decision under Article 101 TFEU and Chapter 1 Competition Act 1998 against Royal Mail and The SaleGroup Limited ("TSG") finding that a parcel delivery services agreement was anticompetitive. This was swiftly followed by a decision to open a (...)

On 12 November 2019, the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal ("CAT") upheld Ofcom’s decision to fine Royal Mail £50 million for abusing a dominant position by announcing price changes. Royal Mail has announced that it is seeking permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW - KEY (...)

Are you wondering what competition law in the UK might look like post-Brexit? The answer differs depending on whether the wording of the draft withdrawal agreement agreed between the UK government and European Commission (’Commission’) on 14 November 2018 (’Withdrawal Agreement’) is ultimately (...)

Wondering what competition law in the UK might look like in a post-Brexit ’no deal’ scenario? On 13 September 2018, the UK government tried to shine some light on this area by publishing a technical notice on the provisions for merger control and competition enforcement if there is no Brexit (...)

This article outlines the key changes made to the UK competition regime following the enactment of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, which provided for the merger of the Office of Fair Trading and Competition Commission to form the new Competition and Markets Authority. The authors (...)