European Commission fines Canon €28m for failure to properly notify a merger

The European Commission has fined Canon €28 million after finding that it had partially implemented an acquisition of Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (“TMSC”) before merger control notification. The EU operates a compulsory notification system, meaning parties must notify the European Commission of plans to merge before the transaction is completed. In this scenario, TMSC had…

CMA fines Casio £3.7m

Following an investigation opened in April 2018, the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) has issued a £3.7m fine against Casio Electronics for pressuring retailers to sell its digital pianos and keyboards at high minimum prices. The practice, known as Resale Price Maintenance, or “RPM”, is against competition law, The fine is the highest the CMA…

Interim measures sought by European Commission for first time in 18 years

The European Commission has announced a formal investigation into Broadcom, a US chipmaker, regarding alleged abuse of a dominant position in the markets for modem and television chipsets. In doing so, the European Commission has indicated that it intends to impose interim measures to restrain any exclusionary practices the chipmaker may be engaging in. This…

Inmarsat takeover faces regulatory scrutiny in the UK

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) has opened an investigation into the proposed private equity consortium takeover of Inmarsat. Inmarsat is the UK headquartered leading global mobile satellite communications provider of connectivity to ships, aircraft, and generally to locations not covered by traditional mobile networks. Moreover, it is reported that the CMA has also…

European Commission launches antitrust investigation into Amazon

The European Commission has today announced the opening of a formal antitrust investigation against tech giant Amazon. The investigation is to assess whether Amazon’s use of sensitive data from independent retailers selling on its marketplace breaches EU Competition Law. With the European Commission having issued record-breaking fines in recent years against Google for illegal leveraging…