Christopher is a senior associate in the competition and EU law department of Ashurst in London and practices all aspects of UK and EU competition law. He has experience in dealing with the European Commission, UK regulators and the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal in relation to competition law investigations and merger control. Key matters on which Christopher has advised recently include an abuse of dominance investigation by a UK regulator, acting for Markit in relation to a European Commission investigation under Article 101, and acting for Xchanging in connection with a Phase II merger reference.
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Introduction A new national security new regime On 29 April 2021, the UK National Security and Investment Act ("Act") received Royal Assent. When brought into force, which is not expected until late 2021, the Act will significantly strengthen the UK Government’s powers to investigate and (...)
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In a unanimous judgment, the Competition Appeal Tribunal ("CAT") dismissed Facebook’s application challenging the CMA’s refusal to grant certain derogations from an initial enforcement order ("IEO") imposed in connection with Facebook’s completed acquisition of GIPHY, Inc. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW - (...)
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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 (...)
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Spire Healthcare, a private healthcare provider, and six consultant ophthalmologists have been fined for their roles in facilitating and arranging to fix the price of initial consultations between different consultants at a Spire hospital in the north of England. Whilst individual consultants (...)
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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.
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While some businesses may choose to delay transactions in light of Covid-19, many transactions will continue, in particular if the target is in financial distress. In such scenarios, the "failing firm defence" may be an available option for obtaining merger control clearance for transactions (...)
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AppNexus Europe Limited ("AppNexus") has been fined GBP 20,000 for failing to comply with an information request issued by the UK Competition and Markets Authority ("CMA"). The fine relates to an information request imposed by the CMA as part of its ongoing market study into online platforms (...)
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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 (...)
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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 (...)
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On 17 October 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union ("ECJ") dismissed an appeal by ethanol company Alcogroup and its subsidiary Alcodis (collectivey "Alcogroup") against a ruling of the General Court ("GC") which had dismissed the company’s request for the suspension of the European (...)
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