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Let's talk antitrust: Discussing recent cases and emerging competition issues
Recent cases and judgments have shone a light on some emerging themes and trends that companies will want to consider as part of their risk management framework.
Global | Publication | September 2017
This publication first appeared in the September 2017 edition of The M&A Lawyer.
Like many international merger control stat- utes, the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR) prohib- its the closing of a notifiable transaction until the European Commission (the Commission) grants or is deemed to have granted antitrust approval. Until recently, however, the Commission has pursued very few violations of this rule, known as “gun-jumping,” in particular compared to the U.S. antitrust agencies. The Commission’s recent actions, and tough talk by EU Competition Com- missioner Margrethe Vestager, suggest that the relatively relaxed European approach to gun- jumping is over.
In her May 2017 speech on “Competition and the Rule of Law,” Commissioner Vestager said that if merging parties “jump the gun, we take that very seriously indeed,” because “otherwise, the harm to competition could already be done, before we have the chance to intervene.”1 Also in May, the Commission announced gun-jumping proceedings against the French company Altice, which recently received a gun-jumping fine from the French authority in connection with two other transactions. Two months later, the Commission opened another gun-jumping case, against Canon. If these cases, involving alleged partial implementation of notified transactions, lead to infringement decisions and fines, they will be the first of their kind in the EU.
This article discusses the types of conduct that may lead to a finding of gun-jumping and the Commission’s enforcement history in this area. In conclusion, this article offers some practical guidance on avoiding gun-jumping issues in future transactions.
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Recent cases and judgments have shone a light on some emerging themes and trends that companies will want to consider as part of their risk management framework.
Publication
After a lacklustre finish to 2022 when compared to the vintage year for M&A that was 2021, dealmakers expected 2023 to see the market continue to cool in most sectors, in response to the economic headwinds of rising inflation (with its corresponding impact on financing costs), declining market valuations, tightening regulatory scrutiny and increasing geopolitical tensions.
Publication
On 18 September 2023, the CMA published its Initial Report (Initial Report) on AI Foundation Models (FM), supplemented in April 2024 with the publication of its “Update Paper” focused on potential antitrust risks associated with FMs and a “Technical Update Report” providing more detail on the development on FMs (collectively the “Reports”). Below, we consider these CMA publications.
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