Tuesday, May 11, 2021
On 20 April 2021, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the German Bundeskartellamt (BKartA) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued a joint statement¹ and held a joint online event pushing for more rigorous merger control enforcement. Our global competition team in these jurisdictions unpacks the joint statement and provides the following insights.
Main takeaways
The main takeaway for businesses is to be prepared for more intervention in deals, especially deals involving dynamic and fast-paced markets, such as digital markets and life sciences. In particular, businesses should expect closer scrutiny – and skepticism – of statements about the benefits of a deal, with the consequent need to rebut with hard evidence a “
In this Issue:
United States
1.
FTC to study impact of physician group and health care facility mergers.
As part of its Merger Retrospective Program, on Jan. 13, 2021, the FTC issued an Order to File a Special Report to six health insurance companies. The FTC plans to use information gathered through the Special Report (e.g., patient-level data from 2015 to 2020) to analyze the competitive impact of physician and health care facility consolidation, as well as mergers and acquisitions, in markets for health care services.
2. FTC approves final order imposing conditions on combination of Pfizer Inc.’s Upjohn and Mylan N.V.
On Jan. 28, 2021, the FTC announced its final order approving the combination of the Upjohn division of Pfizer Inc. and Mylan N.V. in a spinoff, forming Viatris Inc. The FTC alleged that the proposed acquisition would harm competition in generic drug markets. The final order requires the parties to divest certain rights and assets in seven current generic
Friday, February 5, 2021
UK merger control – a new dawn?
The start of 2021 coincides with the end of the transition period following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. In turn, this brings about the most significant change to UK merger control since the introduction of the current UK regime by the Enterprise Act 2002.
This is because, as reported in previous editions of Competition Currents, one of the key consequences of the end of the transition period is that the EU’s “one-stop shop” merger control regime no longer covers the UK: new M&A transactions are now potentially subject to parallel investigations in Brussels and London.
Platform technology provider FNZ has launched an appeal against the Competition and Markets Authority’s decision to block its merger with fellow tech firm GBST.
Monday, December 14, 2020
Antitrust and Competition
The Court of Justice of the European Union Reinforces the European Commission’s Strict Approach on Parental Liability for Antitrust Breaches of Subsidiaries
On 28 October 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) confirmed the General Court of the European Union (GCEU) judgment and the fine imposed by the European Commission (Commission) on a tire manufacturer and its subsidiary on the basis of its long-standing case law on parental liability for cartel activity.
In this case, Commission imposed in 2014 a €302 fine on a number of manufacturers of underground and submarine cables for a power cable cartel. From 1999 to 2009, the cartel members engaged in market sharing and customer allocation in breach of EU antitrust rules. An Italian tire manufacturer was found jointly and severally liable for the involvement of its former subsidiary in the power cable cartel. The Italian tire manufacturer sold it