Mergers & Acquisitions

On December 5, 2024,[1] the Paris Court of Appeals (“Court of Appeals”) clarified the scope of its judgment of June 27, 2024, referring back the assessment of TDF’s acquisition of Itas to the French Competition Authority (“FCA”).[2]  The Court ruled that the referral was limited to further investigation, while the final decision would be taken by the Court of Appeals (not the FCA).

On November 28, 2024, the Commission published the results of an extensive ex-post study examining its past enforcement of merger control rules in the pharmaceutical sector (the “Study”).[1] 

On November 28, 2024, the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) conditionally cleared the acquisition of 200 former Casino stores by the Intermarché group.[1]  The FCA decision is conditional on the divestment of 11 stores to ensure that consumers have access to alternative offerings when purchasing mass-market products.

Introduction

On November 13, 2024, the General Court dismissed three appeals against the European Commission’s decision conditionally approving Vodafone’s acquisition of Liberty Global’s cable business assets in four EU Member States.[1]  Deutsche Telekom, NetCologne, and Tele Columbus brought actions before the General Court seeking the annulment of the Commission’s clearance decision, arguing that the Commission should not have cleared Vodafone’s acquisition subject to behavioral commitments.

On September 14, 2024, China’s SAMR published streamlined notification and publicity forms for cases reviewed under its simplified merger review procedure (“Simple Cases”).  The revised forms will take effect as of October 12, 2024.

In this episode of Cleary Gottlieb’s Antitrust Review podcast, host Nick Levy is joined by a panel featuring Jackie Holland, Cleary partner and former Senior Director of the UK Office of Fair Trading; Ricardo Zimbrón, former Director of Mergers at the Competition & Markets Authority and currently a partner at Cleary; Alexander Baker, CEO, Fingleton; and John Gray, Partner, FGS Global, to discuss the implications of the new Labour Government for competition enforcement and practice in the UK. Their conversation covers an array of topics, including the new government’s growth agenda, the role of politics in antitrust enforcement, merger control, consumer protection, digital regulation, and much more.

On September 13, 2024, the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) approved the acquisition of Kindred Group (“Kindred”) by La Française des Jeux (“FDJ”, the “Transaction”) in the gambling sector, subject to behavioural commitments, including brand separation, to address conglomerate concerns.[1]