The Indian merger control framework is governed by the Competition Act, 2002 (Act) and The Competition Commission of India (Procedure in regard to the transaction of business relating to combinations) Regulations, 2011 (Combination Regulations). To re-align with evolving regulatory needs and streamline processes, Combination Regulations have been reformed periodically. Earlier this year, the Competition (Amendment)…

Introduction In the latest Judgement by the German Federal Court of Justice (FCJ) regarding Section 33g of the Act against Restraints of Competition (“ARC”) in BGH, Urt. v. 4.4.2023, KZR 20/21 – Vertriebskooperation im Schienenpersonennahverkehr (“Judgement”), which was added by the 9th Amendment of the ARC in 2017 and revised by the 10th Amendment of…

Many competition authorities would have given up on excessive pricing cases when the Competition Appeal Tribunal (the Tribunal) annulled a fine of more than £80m which the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had imposed on Pfizer and Flynn for increasing prices for Phenytoin sodium capsules by 700-2,600%. Many, but not the CMA. The UK’s…

Introduction One of the biggest controversies in European football right now is the fight between UEFA, Europe’s continental football association, and the European Super League (ESL), a proposed breakaway league composed of some of the biggest clubs and commercial names in the sport; a case arising out of the dispute recently reached the European Court…

On July 14, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission, announced the withdrawal of two antitrust policy statements related to enforcement in healthcare markets: Statements of Antitrust Enforcement Policy in Health Care, published in August 1996, and Statement of Antitrust Enforcement Policy Regarding Accountable Care Organizations Participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program from October 2011. This…

Platform regulation and the functioning of ecosystems have been two elusive concepts to tackle from a neutral perspective, away from the polarised narratives advocated by different schools of thought on both sides of the Atlantic. The General Court’s rulings in both Google Shopping and Google Android are good proof of that. Against this titanic challenge,…

On 21 June 2023, the Bundeskartellamt, the Federal Cartel Office (FCO), sent a statement of objections to Google and published its preliminary legal assessment of Google’s practices in connection with Google Automotive Services (GAS). According to the Authority’s preliminary evaluation, Google’s practices regarding the licencing of services for infotainment systems in vehicles fulfil the requirements…

With a much-unanticipated outcome, on 26 July 2023, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (UKSC) finally handed down its long-expected judgement in R (on the application of PACCAR Inc and others) v Competition Appeal Tribunal and others [2023] UKSC 28, a decision that is considered to have a significant hit on the litigation funding…

My previous comment on Case-50/21 Prestige and Limousine SL v Área Metropolitana de Barcelona et al (see here) started with the following question: “Are the Supposed Regulatory Privileges of the Taxi Sector Coming to an End? The Opinion of AG Szpunar in Case C‑50/21”. The conclusions in the ECJ judgment of June 8, 2023 (Judgment)…

The EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation took effect on 12 July 2023 to much fanfare. We take a look at the top five things PE funds need to know when considering acquisitions with a European footprint. The Foreign Subsidies Regulation (“FSR”) is the European Commission’s attempt to level the playing field for M&A deals by creating…