On May 25, 2026, the Dutch government prohibited Kyndryl’s proposed acquisition of Solvinity, a Dutch company that operates the digital identification platform (DigiD) used by citizens to access Dutch government services. The decision marks the first prohibition under the Dutch telecom foreign direct investment (FDI) regime.
The European Commission (EC) has published a draft of its long-awaited revision of the Merger Guidelines (Draft Guidelines), combining the 2004 Horizontal Merger Guidelines and 2008 Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines into a single document that is organized around different theories of harm and endeavors to achieve five principal objectives: (1) to take account of the Draghi Report’s call for more dynamic, forward-looking merger control; (2) to acknowledge the benefits of scale, resilience, innovation, and global competitiveness; (3) to reflect the evolution in EC practice over the past 20 years; (4) to tighten the rules for acquisitions by dominant companies; and (5) to signal a greater readiness to take positive account of efficiencies and other benefits.
In the latest episode of Cleary Gottlieb’s Antitrust Review podcast, host Nick Levy is joined by a panel of experts
The European Commission today published a draft of its long-awaited revision of the Merger Guidelines, combining the 2004 Horizontal Merger Guidelines and the 2008 Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines into a single document that takes account of the Draghi Report’s call for more dynamic, forward-looking merger control, acknowledges the benefits of scale, resilience, innovation, and global competitiveness, and suggests a greater readiness to take positive account of efficiencies. The Draft Guidelines represent a significant evolution in the Commission’s approach to mergers, although their practical implications may take time to emerge. Announcing the Draft Guidelines, Commission President von der Leyen underlined the need “to better support companies to thrive, scale and innovate … so we can meet the realities of the fiercely competitive global economy and boost our competitiveness,” while Executive Vice President Ribera emphasized the “unchanged” purpose of “protecting strong, competitive markets without allowing an accumulation of power that can be abused.” A final text of the new Merger Guidelines is expected later this year, although the principles set out in the Draft Guidelines will likely shape the Commission’s assessment of ongoing cases.
In this instalment of Cleary Gottlieb’s Antitrust Review podcast, host Nick Levy is joined by Mike Walker, the CMA’s former
In the latest instalment of Cleary Gottlieb’s Antitrust Review podcast, host Nick Levy is joined by Anu Bradford, Professor of
In the latest instalment of Cleary Gottlieb’s Antitrust Review podcast, host Nick Levy is joined by a panel of lawyers
2025 was a fascinating year for UK competition and consumer enforcement, with the CMA changing its policies and practices in a number of areas. Our Year in Review summarises the most important developments of the past year and what we expect in 2026, as the CMA implements its reworked procedures for merger and market cases, begins to use its new consumer fining powers, and imposes digital conduct requirements for the first time. We also anticipate a Government consultation on significant changes to the decision-making model for mergers and markets.
In the latest instalment of Cleary Gottlieb’s Antitrust Review podcast, host Nick Levy is joined by Oliver Bethell, who leads
In the latest instalment of Cleary Gottlieb’s Antitrust Review podcast, host Nick Levy is joined by Pierre Régibeau, DG COMP’s