On 15 August 2014, the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) approved Alliance Medical Group’s completed acquisition of IBA Molecular’s radioactive medical tracer business. Although IBA’s business was loss-making, would have exited the market and there was no other credible buyer for it, the CMA refused to apply the ‘failing firm’ (or ‘exiting firm’) defence, as…
On 9 July 2014, the European Commission published a White Paper setting out proposals to amend the EU merger control system. The proposed reform of the system is the most significant in the last 10 years and could have an impact on many corporate transactions. The proposals The proposals deal with the following: the expansion…
On 10 June 2014, the Polish Parliament adopted a significant set of amendments to the Polish Competition Law Act (the “Act”). Having received Presidential approval on 30 June 2014, the amended Act is now waiting for publication. The changes are expected to come into force relatively soon. The amendments will take effect 6 months after…
Introduction With the exception of hard-core cartel conduct such as price-fixing and bid-rigging, Canadian competition law has de-emphasized in recent years the importance of pricing conduct as a source of anti-competitive harm. Thus, although the Canadian Competition Act historically contained a variety of criminal offences targeted at pricing conduct – price discrimination, predatory pricing, geographic…
I. INTRODUCTION Perhaps more than ever, tensions between suppliers and retailers have become the defining feature of the grocery industry worldwide. These tensions have also frequently formed the basis for interventions (or proposed interventions) by competition enforcement authorities in this sector. Canada is no exception to this global trend. The Canadian retail grocery industry is…
70th Lunch Talk of the Global Competition Law Center Tuesday, July 15, 2014 from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM The New Wave of Concentrations in the Telecommunications Sector: Merger Control Issues and Remedies Michele PIERGIOVANNI, DG COMP Thomas WESSELY, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Programme: 12:00 – 12:30: Sandwich lunch and socializing 12:30 – 13:30: Presentations and…
Co-authored by Nicola Boyle, Tom Bolster and Boris Bronfentrinker, Hausfeld On 5 June 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) clarified the full extent of cartel damages that can be recovered in Europe. The ECJ ruled that the civil liability of cartelists also extends to so-called “umbrella pricing”. This term describes pricing…
Last week, the Polish Lower Chamber of Parliament agreed final changes to Poland’s competition law regime. The new regime, which will be implemented by amendments to the Polish Act on Competition and Consumer Protection, is likely to come into force at the beginning of 2015. Whilst the amendments simplify and accelerate merger control proceedings, they…
69th Lunch Talk of the Global Competition Law Center Thursday, June 26, 2014 from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM The Revised Competition Regime for Technology Transfer Agreements (TTBER): Policy and Practice Luc PEEPERKORN & Anna VERNET, DG COMP Jérôme VAN BIERVLIET, VIB Life Sciences Research Institute Programme: 12:00 – 12:30: Sandwich lunch and socializing 12:30…
It took five years to draft. But now everything’s go!-go!-go! First published late spring 2014, Ireland’s newest competition law reform could be adopted by July. And though planning was long and time for debate is now short, last minute changes (big ones too) continue. Just introduced amendments include new merger control thresholds. Other surprises include…
