On May 14, 2018, the German and Austrian competition authorities have published joint draft guidelines on the new transaction value merger thresholds, including an English translation (see here). Comments can be submitted by June 8, 2018. It would certainly be helpful if members of the legal and economic community from jurisdictions with similar transaction size…

In February 2018, the Federal Competition Authority (Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde – “BWB”) introduced an electronic whistleblowing system, which allows individuals to inform the BWB about (alleged) antitrust infringements on an anonymous basis.  Legal Background By amendments to the Austrian Competition Act (Wettbewerbsgesetz), which entered into force on 1 May 2017, the Austrian legislator authorised the BWB to…

Austria will introduce a transaction value merger notification threshold, which will enter into force on 1 November 2017.  The draft law and explanatory notes are available here (in German).  In essence, transactions with a transaction value of more than € 200 million, provided the target has “significant” activities in Austria, will potentially require notification. The…