On 18 May and 22 June 2022, the EU General Court upheld two European Commission prohibition decisions. Both judgments endorsed the European Commission’s assessment of the mergers at issue, recognising a broad margin of discretion in the European Commission’s evaluation of the concentrations’ effects and the remedies. Key takeaways The EU General Court (“GC”)…
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 18 January 2022, Microsoft announced its future acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which will be the largest tech merger in the history of the United States. The press release voiced concern on a range of competition authorities around the World. Microsoft is one of the three contenders in the market of console-making and by acquiring…
Yesterday, on 29 August 2022, clearance for the FAW/Refire joint venture transaction was announced on one of the websites of the Chinese antitrust authority – i.e., the State Administration for Market Regulation (“SAMR”). That transaction marks the first case where Chinese merger review was handled by a local SAMR office. The foundations to this delegation…
The Competition (Amendment) Bill (‘Bill’) was first published for public consultation in February 2020 and it is only on 5 August 2022 that it has finally been tabled before the Indian Parliament. The Bill is a concerted effort to harmonize competition law with the evolving realities of businesses today. The Bill proposes to amend both…
Background The recent proliferation of foreign direct investment regimes (“FDI”) in Europe baffles practitioners and deal makers alike. Why is my acquisition of, say, a developer of grapes in Spain potentially subject to CFIUS-like rules? Can my carefully crafted leveraged buyout of a niche Polish producer of NFTs derail out of national security concerns because…
On 13 July 2022, the General Court of the European Union confirmed the European Commission’s jurisdiction to review the Illumina/Grail transaction following a referral pursuant to Article 22 EUMR. The judgment is an important endorsement of the EC’s recent change in its Article 22 referral policy, and may embolden the EC to call in for…
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…
