On November 12, 2019, the Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of Bonnier Broadcasting Holding AB, a TV broadcasting company primarily active in Sweden and Finland, by Telia Company AB, a telecommunications operator in the Nordic region.[1]
FCO Clears Ciscos’s Acquisition of Acacia Communications
On November 11, 2019, the FCO approved the acquisition of Acacia Communications, Inc. (“Acacia”) by Cisco Systems, Inc. (“Cisco”).[1] The FCO had asked the merging parties to withdraw their notification to have more time to define the relevant markets but cleared the transaction in phase 1 after the parties had resubmitted their notification one month later.
The French Administrative Supreme Court (Conseil D’Etat) Confirms the Decision to Impose a €20 Million Fine on Fnac Darty for Failure to Comply With Commitments
On November 7, 2019, the Conseil d’Etat upheld the FCA decision imposing a €20 million fine on Fnac Darty for failing to comply with the commitment to divest three stores, pre-condition for clearance in the acquisition of Darty by Fnac in 2016.[1]
The Commission Approves Vodafone’s Acquisition Of Liberty Global’s Cable Business Subject To Cable Access Remedies, A First In The Industry
On October 30, 2019, the Commission published its July 2019 decision to conditionally approve the acquisition by Vodafone of Liberty Global’s cable business in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania, following an in-depth Phase II investigation.[1] The decision marks the first-ever cable access commitment approved by the Commission in the telecommunications sector.
The FCA Will Not Extend Most of the Commitments Undertaken by Altice Upon Acquiring SFR
On October 28, 2019, the FCA decided not to extend the five-year commitments undertaken by Altice upon acquiring SFR in 2014. Yet, the FCA maintained an injunction imposed on Altice in 2017 for co-deploying the fiber optic network with Bouygues Telecom.
The Commission Publishes Its Decision To Fine Canon For Gun-Jumping
On October 22, 2019, the Commission published its decision to fine Canon a total of €28 million for failure to file its acquisition of Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (“TMSC”).[1] Canon acquired TMSC via a warehousing arrangement, which involved a special purpose vehicle (“SPV”) that held most of TMSC’s shares pending merger control approval.
The Commission Unconditionally Approves BM’s Acquisition Of Celgene
On October 10, 2019, the Commission published its decision of July 29, 2019, to unconditionally approve Bristol-Myers Squibb Company’s (“BMS”) acquisition of Celgene Corporation (“Celgene”) following a Phase I review.[1] BMS and Celgene are global pharmaceutical companies.
FCO Clears Rewe Group’s Lekkerland Acquisition, While Austrian Authority Blocks Austrian Part Of The Deal
On October 9, 2019, the FCO unconditionally cleared Rewe-Zentralfinanz eG’s (“Rewe”) acquisition of wholesaler Lekkerland AG & Co. KG (“Lekkerland”).[1] Rewe is mainly active as a food retailer, but also as a food wholesaler, supplying fresh and convenience food to Aral AG’s gas station shops. Lekkerland is a German wholesaler for food and tobacco products whose principal clients are gas station shops, convenience stores and kiosks.
JD Sports Fashion plc/Footasylum plc.
On 1 October 2019, the CMA announced that it had referred JD Sports’ completed acquisition of Footasylum for an in-depth
CMA’s Increasing Enforcement Of Document Requests In Merger Review
There is a global trend of increasingly burdensome demands by competition authorities conducting merger review for the submission of merging parties’ internal documents, and the CMA is no exception. In recent months the CMA has also taken greater steps to enforce such requests, in particular by fining companies for failing to comply with formal requests for documents under Section 109 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (“Section 109 Notices”).