On February 23, 2022, the General Court dismissed UPS’ €1.7 billion claim for damages allegedly suffered due to the Commission’s prohibition of the proposed €5.2 billion merger between UPS and TNT Express (“TNT”). Although the General Court had previously annulled the Commission prohibition decision due to procedural deficiencies, it rejected UPS’ follow-on damages claim because UPS failed to demonstrate that it would have secured approval for the TNT transaction absent the procedural breach.[1]

On February 17, 2021, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) published its third report on market power in the electricity generation sector (“Market Power Report”), analyzing the competitive landscape from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021.[1]  Again, the FCO published its results one year earlier than statutorily required because of the continuing phase-out of nuclear and coal energy.

On February 16, 2022, the Cour de cassation confirmed that lack of mutual trust is a valid reason for a supplier to refuse to reappoint a former member of its selective distribution network, upholding an important decision of the Paris Court of Appeals in the automotive industry.[1]

On February 15, 2022, the Italian Competition Authority (the “ICA”) accepted the commitments proposed by Telecom Italia S.p.A. (“TIM”), Fastweb S.p.A. (“Fastweb”), FiberCop S.p.A. (“FiberCop”), Tiscali Italia S.p.A. (“Tiscali”), Teemo Bidco S.r.l. (“Teemo”) and KKR & Co. Inc. (“KKR” and, together with TIM, Fastweb, FiberCop, Tiscali and Teemo, the “Parties”) with respect to certain agreements concerning the creation of FiberCop and access to its infrastructure (the “Decision”).[1] 

On February 11, 2022, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) approved the acquisition of OMV Retail Deutschland GmbH’s (“OMV”) filling station network by the British convenience retailer EG Group Limited (“EG Group”).  The FCO’s approval is subject to the prior divestiture of 25 EG Group filling stations and 23 OMV filling stations in southern Germany.[1]

On February 7, 2022, NVIDIA announced the termination of its agreement to acquire Arm Limited (“Arm”), a UK-based semiconductor design company of the SoftBank Group.[1] Following its announcement in September 2021, the transaction, which would have been the largest of its kind in the semiconductor sector, had attracted significant regulatory interest across the globe.

On February 4, 2022, the Commission released a revised draft dual distribution guidance[1] within the broader context of the ongoing review of EU vertical rules.