September 2004

Anticompetitive practices

 Un Tribunal néerlandais rejette la demande d’un ancien concessionnaire Daewoo de l’admettre dans le réseau de réparateurs agréés sur le double fondement du Règ. n° 1400/2002 CE et de l’Art. 81 CE (Daewoo Motor Benelux)
European Commission - DG HR (Brussels)
47 contributions 201302 visits
Daewoo Motor Benelux (ci-après “Daewoo”) a mis fin au contrat de distribution l’unissant à un concessionnaire automobile en raison de la diminution de ses ventes et de la qualité de ses services après-vente, et de la perte de confiance subséquente de la part de Daewoo. Par la suite, cet ancien (...)

The Paris Court of Appeal widens the possibilities for car manufacturers to fight against illegal parallel imports (Peugeot / SPEA / CNPA)
Lni avocats (Paris)
France 12 contributions 48991 visits
In April and August 1995, a European Automobile Association, the Syndicat des professionnels européens de l’automobile (SPEA), had referred a matter to the French Competition Council regarding practices implemented in the automobile distribution sector by two major French car manufacturers (...)

A Belgian Appeal Court holds valid a resale price maintenance provision taking into consideration lack of evidence that the agreement restricted the national market or a substantial part of it (Incanto / Livoque)
NautaDutilh (Brussels)
Belgium 5 contributions 3761 visits
Description of the impugned case On 20 September 2004, the Antwerp Court of Appeal (‘the Court’) rendered its decision on the compatibility of a franchising agreement with the Belgian competition rules. The franchisor, Incanto BVBA, is active in the sector of jewellery and accessories and has (...)

The Stockholm City Court holds that a company may be fined for having undertaken cartel activities against itself (Asphalt Cartel)
Cederquist (Stockholm)
Sweden 8 contributions 37191 visits
In September 2001 the Swedish Competition Authority (hereinafter the “SCA”) was approached by a number of former employees of the Swedish construction company NCC. They told stories of a market that for a very long time had been infested by agreements to share the markets, rig public bids and (...)

A Belgian Court of Appeal rules that the obligation to obtain the supplier’s approval of advertisement campaigns in a selective distribution relationship does not constitute an indirect resale price maintenance clause (Chanel / Makro)
Johnson & Johnson (Brussels)
Belgium 6 contributions 9274 visits
Description of the impugned case In Belgium, as in other countries, the Chanel cosmetic products and perfumes are distributed through a selective distribution network. The selective distribution agreements used in this regard, were notified to the European Commission and the Belgian (...)

The European Commission adopts cartel decision imposing fines on copper plumbing tube producers (Boliden, Outokumpu, Wieland, Halcor and HME Nederland)
DG COMP (Brussels)
Belgium 3 contributions 1482 visits
"Commission adopts cartel decision imposing fines on copper plumbing tube producers"* In September 2004, the Commission imposed fines totalling EUR 222.3 million on the major European copper plumbing tube producers for operating a 13-year cartel in the copper plumbing tubes market. These (...)

Unilateral Practices

 The Danish national postal operator finds guilty of abuse of dominant position on the market for the distribution of non-addressed items and local weekly papers (Post Danmark / Forbruger-Kontakt)
McDermott Will & Emery (Brussels)
Belgium 46 contributions 89266 visits
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Catholic University of Louvain
Belgium 11 contributions 44784 visits
On 29 September 2004, the Danish Competition Council adopted a decision whereby Post Danmark A/S, the Danish national postal operator, was found to have abused its dominant position on the market for the distribution of non-addressed items and local weekly papers. The decision stemmed from a (...)

The Japanese FTC issues its decision against music broadcasting providers for the allegation of private monopolisation (Usen and Nippon Network Vision)
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Tokyo)
Japon 4 contributions 396 visites
The JFTC issued a decision to Usen Corporation and Nippon Network Vision Corporation The JFTC issued a decision to Usen Corporation and Nippon Network Vision Corporation, Japanese companies which are active in music broadcasting business for shops, hotels and other commercial users, to take (...)

Mergers

 The Turkish Competition Authority cleared - ex post - a merger in the logistics services market while requesting annulation of a non-compete clause after the termination of the joint-venture (TNT-Koc Group)
Esin (Istanbul)
Turkey 51 contributions 92906 visits
The operation TNT Turkey was under the joint control of Koc Group and TNT prior to the transaction. The main field of business of TNT Turkey is the logistics services. The Parties to the transaction are active in the relevant market only through TNT Turkey. Prior to the transaction, TNT held (...)

The German Federal Cartel Office prohibits a merger in the residential furnishings sector while giving guidance on the question of representativeness of market surveys and restricting the scope of application of the de minimis exemption (AGRO)
Gleiss Lutz (Munich)
Germany 28 contributions 47982 visits
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Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy (Munich)
Germany 28 contributions 47982 visits
On 29 September 2004 the German Federal Cartel Office prohibited the proposed merger between the American company Leggett & Platt, Inc. (L&P), a manufacturer and distributor of inter aliaresidential furnishings, and AGRO Federkernproduktions GmbH (AGRO), a German manufacturer of (...)

The US FTC employs an uncommon remedy to resolve the anticompetitive concerns of a merger-to-monopoly by requiring the merged firm to license a generic form of its breakthrough cancer pain drug to a third party (Cephalon / CIMA)
US Department of Justice
2 contributions 260 visits
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BakerHostetler (Washington)
United States 2 contributions 260 visits
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Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman (New York)
United States 2 contributions 260 visits
In two recent decisions involving pharmaceutical mergers – Cephalon/Cima, in August 2004, and Genzyme/Novazyme, in January 2004, a divided Federal Trade Commission was accused by dissenting Commissioners of breaking with precedent and allowing acquisitions involving innovator pharmaceuticals (...)

The US FTC requires divestiture of three brand drugs in order to grant approval to a merger between two pharmaceutical companies (Sanofi-Synthelabo / Aventis)
US Department of Justice
2 contributions 260 visits
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BakerHostetler (Washington)
United States 2 contributions 260 visits
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Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman (New York)
United States 2 contributions 260 visits
In two recent decisions involving pharmaceutical mergers – Cephalon/Cima, in August 2004, and Genzyme/Novazyme, in January 2004, a divided Federal Trade Commission was accused by dissenting Commissioners of breaking with precedent and allowing acquisitions involving innovator pharmaceuticals (...)

The US District Court for the Northern District of California rules that the second-largest software company can proceed with its proposed bid despite DoJ’s legal challenge (Oracle / Peoplesoft)
Shearman & Sterling (Washington)
États-Unis 2 contributions 319 visites
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Shearman & Sterling (Washington)
United States 4 contributions 1149 visits
On September 9, 2004, a federal judge ruled that Oracle, the nation’s second-largest software company, could proceed with its hostile bid for PeopleSoft, handing the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) a significant defeat in a legal challenge to a corporate merger. DOJ had sought to block Oracle’s (...)

The Dutch Competition Authority clears a temporary minority shareholding in a competing undertaking, acquired by a publisher to finance the sale of its subsidiary (Sdu / Ten Hagen & Stam)
Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs
Netherlands 3 contributions 1443 visits
In Sdu - Ten Hagen & Stam, publishing house Wolters Kluwer Nederland B.V. (WK) acquired a minority shareholding of less than 25% in its competitor Sdu Uitgevers B.V. (SDuU), to provide financing for the sale of its subsidiary Ten Hagen & Stam to SduU’s parent company Sdu N.V (SDu). In (...)

The French Minister of Economic Affairs clears a merger in the markets of road transportation conditional to structural remedies (Charles André)
Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) (Luxembourg)
Luxembourg 30 contributions 73752 visits
The operation By letter dated 2 September 2004, the French Minister of Economic Affairs (“the Minister”) authorised a merger where Charles André SAS acquired Citaix. Both parties were active in the road transport business (Charles André in the road transport by tank trucks and Citaix in the road (...)

State Aid

 The French Administrative Court of Clermont-Ferrand awards compensation for losses caused by nullity of contract resulting from authorities’ failure to consider State aid rules (Fontanille)
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton (Brussels)
Belgium 346 contributions 642262 visits
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European Commission (Brussels)
Belgium 28 contributions 43839 visits
Brief description of the facts and legal issues A law of 1996 enabled the French government to sign agreements with undertakings in the clothing, leather, shoe and textile sectors regarding a reduction in working time, in order to avoid redundancies. In return, the French government granted an (...)

Procedures

 The Brussels Court of Appeal gives guidance as to the consequences to be drawn from the EC Commission decision annulling the decision of the Belgian Ordre des Architectes
European Commission - DG HR (Brussels)
47 contributions 201302 visits
An agreement passed with an architect fixed the fee in accordance with the deontological norm set by the Belgian Ordre des Architectes. The architect asked its client to pay the fee for the work he had made. The client refused, arguing that the agreement was void because the fee was set in (...)

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