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…
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…
Preiskel & Co Partner Tim Cowen’s 2014 article questions whether the process of merger control is adequate to consider wider public interest issues. Last year the UK parliament introduced new threshold tests for merger control where the businesses concerned are involved in the provision of critical national infrastructure. With further reform in this area expected,…
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) has set its sights on Amazon’s investment in Roofoods Ltd, trading as Deliveroo, issuing an Interim Enforcement Order on 24 June 2019. Amazon was the lead investor in a financing round announced by Deliveroo in May, acquiring a minority stake in the food delivery business. The Interim Enforcement…
The EU Commission has recently published the full decision in the Apple/Shazam merger. An in-depth competition investigation was carried out by the EU Commission following a Phase II referral in April 2018. The Commission confirmed in its press release of 6 September 2018 that the transaction had been cleared and they had found that it…
Following a two-year bidding process, the saga has finally come to an end. Following a rare supervised bidding process in which the Takeover Panel oversaw the submission of blind bids for Sky by Fox and Comcast, Comcast has emerged the victor, offering £30 billion for full control of Sky. Preiskel & Co Partner, Tim Cowen,…
Reforms to the UK merger regime entered into force in June 2018. The reforms are designed to address concerns regarding the security of critical national infrastructure. In particular, the Government has amended the threshold tests for businesses in the military, dual-use, and quantum computing sectors. Pursuant to the Enterprise Act 2002 (Turnover Test) (Amendment) Order…
The European Commission has cleared CK Hutchison’s takeover of Italian telecoms group, Wind Tre, subject to CK Huthcison agreeing to take full responsibility for the conditions imposed on Wind Tre when it was created. These conditions relate to the completion of spectrum transfer and site divestment, and to the implementation of the national roaming agreement…
Another twist in the road for the Sky/Fox merger. Disney has raised its bid for 21st Century Fox’s assets to $71.3bn, while stepping up its commitments with regards to the Sky/Fox acquisition. Disney has committed to funding Sky News to the tune of £100m a year for the next 15 years, increasing its previous funding…
The government has implemented its plans to amend the merger control thresholds in order to address national security concerns, initially set out in a Green Paper in October. In May the government published the Enterprise Act 2002 (Share of Supply Test) (Amendment) Order 2018 and the Enterprise Act 2002 (Turnover Test) (Amendment) Order 2018, which…
