The contemplated acquisition of Nova Broadcasting Group AD by PPF TMT Bidco 2 В.V (the latter entity and its economic group hereinafter referred to as “PPF”) along with a separate acquisition of the vertically integrated business of CEZ Group of companies (owned by CEZ a.s.) by the Bulgarian company Inercom EAD have been making the…

On August 27, 2018, the Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) announced that it had unanimously cleared the acquisition of one of the largest retailers of various products such as books, periodicals, music, electronics, accessories, video games and toys (“D&R”) by another retailer & wholesaler of the relevant products (“TveK”).[1] Furthermore, the group of companies to which…

At the beginning of August 2018, the Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition (“BCPC”) opened proceedings against a local company for non-notification of an acquisition of another undertaking. Such proceedings are very rare, and the last fine for a similar breach in Bulgaria was in 2012. The undertaking acquiring control – Agria Group Holding AD…

Document requests issued by the EU Commission (EC) have become common in complex EU merger cases. A few years ago, the EC would only ask for several hundred documents in such cases – now it has become standard to request several hundred thousand documents from each of the parties to the transaction, often within a short time period (once…

On 19 July 2018 the Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition (“BCPC”) refused to approve two separate concentrations – the acquisition of the vertically integrated business of CEZ Group of companies (owned by CEZ a.s., Czech Republic) by Inercom EAD (Bulgaria) and the acquisition of Nova Broadcasting Group AD by PPF TMT (the Netherlands). Both…

Throughout the last year, the topics of globalization in the markets and digitalization of economy were extensively discussed within the governmental authorities and business community in Russia. One of the major concerns of the authorities and business community was development of competition in “digital era”. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (‘FAS Russia’) has found its pivotal…

Abstract There has been a recent case of ITC/Johnson & Johnson (decided on 11th December, 2017) surrounding the retrospective application of the law/notifications issued by the Indian competition authorities, where the Competition Commission ruled against the possibility of retrospective application of a De Minimis notification. It is pertinent to note that the issue has not…

In the Indian Jurisdiction, Item I of Schedule I of the 2011 Combination Regulations exempts minority investments made “solely for investment purpose” and not leading to a change of control from notifying to the Competition Commission. However, the exact standard for assessment of the investment purpose and nature of conduct inconsistent with the exception is…

On 16 May 2018, the General Court annulled the Commission’s decision rejecting Lufthansa’s request for a waiver of commitments it had given when it acquired Swiss in 2005. The Court faulted the Commission for not carrying out a careful examination of Lufthansa’s arguments that significant market changes justified a waiver of the commitments. The Commission…

The Polish Competition Authority – the President of the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (the ”PCA” or the “President of the OCCP”)–initiated the precedent antimonopoly proceedings against Gazprom and its international partners (Engie from Switzerland, as well as four other companies from the Netherlands: Uniper, OMV, Shell and Wintershall) related to an alleged violation…