April 2001

Anticompetitive practices

 The UK High Court makes a group litigation order in a competition case in the automobile sector (Prentice / DaimlerChrysler UK)
Reed Smith (London)
United Kingdom 4 contributions 2573 visits
Gerald Barling is a justice of the High Court and president of the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT). He wrote an article “Collective Redress for Breach of Competition Law – A Case for Reform” published in Competition Law Journal Volume 10 Issue 1, 2011. In it he deals with Group Litigation Orders (...)

The UK Restrictive Practices Court orders the removal of the legal protection from price fixing on certain branded over-the-counter medicines (OTC Medecines)
Addleshaw Goddard
13 contributions 7591 visits
Description of the impugned case Branded prescription only medicines and branded OTC medicines were granted an exemption in 1970 from the general prohibition of resale price maintenance in the Resale Prices Act 1964. After reviewing the position in 1995, the OFT decided to apply to the (...)

The Dutch Competition Authority receives communication from a group of supermarkets that they will abstain from price coordination behaviour on the market for milk distribution (Albert Heijn / Laurus / Schuitema / Dirk van den Broek / Nettorama)
Netherlands Authority for Consumers & Markets- ACM (The Hague)
Netherlands 201 contributions 33291 visits
Supermarkets Withdraw Surcharge on Milk, NMa Decides against Order Subject to Penalty* Albert Heijn, Laurus, Schuitema, Dirk van den Broek and Nettorama have informed the Dutch Competition Authority (NMa) that they will cease charging the surcharge of NLG 0.10 on milk that they introduced (...)

The Dutch Competition Authority finds price fixing and market sharing agreements engaged by the national association of general practitioners in breach of competition law (LHV)
Netherlands Authority for Consumers & Markets- ACM (The Hague)
Netherlands 201 contributions 33291 visits
NMa Prohibits Agreements on Tariffs and on the Setting up of Practices by General Practitioners* In its decision on the policy with regard to setting up practices of Landelijke Huisartsenvereniging (LHV) [National Association of General Practitioners] and the collective negotiations conducted (...)

Unilateral Practices

 The EU Commission finds that the company which created ’Green Dot’ trademark, is restricting competition by abusing its dominant position in the market for organizing the collection and recycling of sales packaging in Germany (System Deutschland)
European Commission - Secretariat General (Brussels)
Belgium 5 contributions 1902 visits
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European Commission - DG COMP (Brussels)
Belgium 8 contributions 5493 visits
"Commission acts against Duales System Deutschland AG for the abuse of a dominant position"* Introduction On April 20, 2001, the Commission adopted a decision finding that Duales System Deutschland AG (DSD), a company which created ‘The Green Dot’ (Der Grüne Punkt) trademark, is restricting (...)

Mergers

 The Spanish Competition Authority cleared a merger with divestment remedies in the retail distribution sector; in phase II, the Council of Ministries upheld and extended the remedies (Pío Coronado / Cemetro)
PwC (Madrid)
Espagne 24 contributions 53294 visites
The operation The merger involved the acquisition of 100% of Cemetro’s shares by Pío Coronado. Pío Coronado was a large retail distributor in the Canary Islands, with 107 stores comprising hypermarkets (6), supermarkets (81) and smaller stores located on beachfronts (20). Pío Coronado was also (...)

The US FTC imposes a host of conduct remedies, regulating business operations and reporting obligations, to prevent the exclusion of other competitors resulting from a vertical merger in the internet and cable industries (AOL / Time Warner)
Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz (New York)
United States 9 contributions 14206 visits
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JGK Strategic Competition Consulting (Villanova)
United States 1 contribution 482 visits
AFTER THE PUBLICATION OF OUR article, Antitrust Review of New Economy Acquisitions, in the Fall 2000 issue of this magazine, the federal antitrust authorities continued to leave their mark on the developing new economy. Two subsequent consent decrees—AOL-Time Warner and WorldCom-Intermedia— (...)

The Czech Competition Authority clears a merger in the glass products sector subject to maintenance of current supply level (Bijou Terra / ŽBS)
Dentons (Prague)
Czech Republic 13 contributions 30476 visits
The operation Based on the acquisition agreement between Bijou Terra, s.r.o., and National Property Fund of the Czech Republic, Bijou Terra was to acquire nearly 90 % of shares in Železnobrodské sklo, a.s. (ŽBS) from the Czech state. ŽBS was a state controlled joint-stock company, specializing in (...)

The EU Commission authorizes, subject to conditions, an acquisition in the office supplies sector (Buhrmann / Samas Office Supplies)
DG Economic and Financial Affairs-ECFIN (Brussels)
Belgium 65 contributions 32794 visits
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European Commission - DG COMP (Brussels)
Belgium 48 contributions 12738 visits
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Financial Conduct Authority (London)
United Kingdom 80 contributions 22117 visits
"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 (...)

The EU Commission clears, subject to remedies, an acquisition in the rail transport sector (Bombardier / ADtranz)
DG Economic and Financial Affairs-ECFIN (Brussels)
Belgium 65 contributions 32794 visits
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European Commission - DG COMP (Brussels)
Belgium 48 contributions 12738 visits
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Financial Conduct Authority (London)
United Kingdom 80 contributions 22117 visits
"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 (...)

State Aid

 The EU Commission raises no objections to an aid notified by the Italian authorities in favor of three high-tech R&D projects in microchips (ST Microelectronics)
European Commission - DG COMP (Brussels)
Belgium 8 contributions 7176 visits
"Italy — Commission raises no objections to an aid in favour of ST Microelectronics for three high-tech R&D projects in microchips"* On 11 April 2001, the Commission decided not to raise objections to aid granted to the company ‘ST Microelectronics’ for a R&D project aiming at developing (...)

Regulatory

 The EU Commission clears a regulation in the football broadcasting sector as it infringes competition policies (UEFA)
European Commission - DG COMP (Brussels)
Belgium 1296 contributions 2705486 visits
Commission clears UEFA’s new Broadcasting Regulations* The Commission has decided that UEFA’s new rules on the broadcasting of football matches as amended in July 2000 fall outside the scope of the European competition rules. The rules allow national football associations to block the (...)

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