Advocate General Anthony Michael Collins has proposed that the European Court of Justice upheld the General Court’s Altice judgment. In his Opinion, he considered that entering into certain types of pre-closing covenants by an acquirer may constitute gun-jumping, regardless of the absence of the transfer of shares. AG Collins emphasised the importance of deterrence when…

In the last couple of months alone, the Serbian national competition authority (NCA) has started as many as three new gun-jumping investigations. The investigations relate to transactions which parties failed to notify in Serbia even though the Serbian merger filing thresholds were apparently exceeded. On surface, this may indicate an increased risk for parties who…

In the last edition of the International Law Talk Podcast, I had the pleasure to interview Jay Modrall on the Illumina/Grail saga. Jay talks us through the whole case with all its interesting aspects: external and internal dimensions, article 22 referrals, gun-jumping, phase II, court proceedings, substantive issues with competition innovation and much more. Listen…

As in most jurisdictions, the Portuguese Competition Act (‘PCAct’) provides for an ex-ante merger control regime, according to which concentrations above certain thresholds are subject to mandatory pre-notification. Three alternative thresholds apply i) a turnover threshold, ii) a standard market share threshold and iii) a de minimis market share threshold (see Article 37 of the PCAct)….

On September 6, 2022, the European Commission (Commission) announced that it had prohibited the acquisition by Illumina Inc., a U.S company supplying sequencing- and array-based solutions for genetic and genomic analysis, of Grail LLC, another U.S. company that develops blood tests for the early detection of cancers, under the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR).  Grail has…

On 29 June 2022, Ireland enacted major reforms to its Competition Act.  These changes will impact on all sectors across the Irish economy, with potential target industries such as Life Sciences, Energy, Technology and Consumer Goods facing increased scrutiny – particularly as Ireland is a key HQ location for EMEA operations.  While the reforms belatedly…

On 18 May 2022, the EU General Court (the “GC”) upheld the European Commission’s (the “EC”) €28 million fine imposed on Canon for gun-jumping in the context of a (somewhat unique) so-called warehousing structure. The judgment confirms that structures such as the one at issue are not allowed under EU law without an express derogation…

On 24 February 2022, the Parliament of Ukraine, in connection with the large-scale military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, approved a decree of the President of Ukraine on the imposition of martial law in the country. The military aggression has significantly affected the activities of most public authorities in Ukraine, including the Ukrainian…

In April 2018, the European Commission (“EC”) imposed two fines on the multinational cable and telecoms company Altice (“acquirer”) in relation to its acquisition of PT Portugal (“target”), a telecommunications and multimedia operator.[1] The EC held that the acquirer both failed to notify the concentration prior to implementation under Article 4 of the EU Merger…

In light of the European Commission’s recent gun-jumping investigation concerning Illumina’s acquisition of GRAIL, what has been the gun-jumping track record of the Serbian competition authority and what to expect in the future?   What is the potential fine for gun-jumping in Serbia? The Serbian Competition Act prescribes a standstill obligation, providing that the parties…