Gun Jumping: Increasing Enforcement and Drawing Lines

Gun-jumping is a growing concern among global antitrust authorities, as demonstrated by the record levels of contributions at the first global conference on the topic, organized by the OECD in November 2018. Particularly in relation to so-called “substantive” gun-jumping, the line between permitted and illegal conduct has long been unclear, particularly in the European Union, where until recently there were no relevant decisions. That changed in 2018, when the European Court of Justice and the Commission issued landmark decisions in the EY and Altice cases. This article discusses the implications of EY and Altice in the EU and globally.