Transaction lawyers across the EU are by now sufficiently familiar with a third screening tool, alongside merger control and foreign subsidy control: foreign direct investment (FDI) screening. As the Trilogues on the revision of the FDI Screening Regulation start in Strasbourg today, a few thoughts to reflect on the positions of the European Commission, the…
Kick-off – the Tondela Opinion and its Background On 15 May 2025, AG Emiliou delivered his Opinion on the request for a preliminary ruling submitted by the Portuguese Tribunal da Concorrência, Regulação e Supervisão in Tondela et al. The Opinion was eagerly awaited, as it represents the first occasion on which a no-poach agreement –…
On June 2, 2025, the EU Commission (Commission) rendered its decision in re Case AT.40795 Delivery Hero/Glovo (Delivery Hero). This is an important new precedent, to be delivered as part of any deal-making post-integration compliance training. Failure to heed the guidance contained in Delivery Hero is risky, as now also tangibly illustrated by the size…
Introduction Advocate General Emiliou delivered three interlocking Opinions concerning decisions of football governing bodies. Two of these cases were brought to challenge elements of the FIFA Football Agent Regulations (Case C-209/23, RCC Sports and Case C-428/23, Rogon). The third concerns a decision of the Portuguese Competition Authority which had found that a no-poach agreement by…
As we approach the second anniversary of the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR), we take stock of the latest statistics and offer practical insights for private equity (PE) sponsors. Drawing on our extensive experience advising funds, we set out the key takeaways for PE investors navigating the FSR notification process. PE sponsors are the…
The Problem Ukraine’s decade-long selective distribution practices in the pharmaceutical market are currently facing unparalleled antitrust scrutiny. This follows the introduction of controversial new regulation that reflect a growing trend: substituting timely, targeted market failure interventions and adequate enforcement with legislative restrictions that are economically unsound and severely undermine decades of the established commercial strategies….
2024 marked the third year in which the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) exercised its statutory powers amid the challenges of the full-scale war. Yet, as of 2025, the regulator has demonstrated remarkable agility, remaining fully operational – reviewing merger control notifications, commencing investigations, issuing decisions, as well as dedicating significant efforts to aligning Ukrainian…
Executive Vice President (EVP) Ribera is on a “mission impossible” to develop a “new approach to competition policy” “support[ing] European companies to innovate, compete and lead world-wide and contribut[ing] to our wider objectives on competitiveness and sustainability, social fairness and security.” EVP Ribera was particularly tasked with revising the European Commission’s (Commission’s) decades-old guidelines on…
The proceedings against Vifor Pharma/HCI Solutions In December 2016, the Swiss Competition Commission (ComCo) fined HCl Solutions AG (HCI) around CHF 4.5 million for abuse of a dominant market position. HCI, a subsidiary of Vifor Pharma Participations AG (Vifor), operates, among other things, the “Compendium” of electronic drug information and user-specific INDEX databases (e.g. “medINDEX” for…
Merger control has long been a cornerstone of competition enforcement in Germany, with the Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) known for wielding its mandate decisively and not shying away from blocking notifiable deals if they are perceived to cause competitive harm. One example was the prohibition of CTS Eventim’s acquisition of the booking agency Four Artists…
