The EU Commission fines a camera and printer manufacturer €28M for partially implementing its acquisition prior to the transaction being notified to the Commission (Canon / Toshiba)

On 27 June 2019, the European Commission (Commission) announced it had fined Japanese camera and printer manufacturer, Canon, €28m for partially implementing its 2016 acquisition of Toshiba Medical Systems prior to the transaction being notified to the Commission and, as a result, before it had been formally given competition clearance. The focus of concern was the use of a so-called 'warehousing structure' – a two-step process during which the target company is temporarily "parked" with an intermediary buyer with the intention, the Commission claims, of circumventing EU merger control rules (rules requiring merging parties to notify and suspend implementation of their transactions pending approval). The Commission's actions may come as no great surprise to some in that they confirm the