2 December 2022

10th Global Merger Control Conference

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Date & place

Friday 2 December 2022 from 08:00 to 13:00 CET

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Maison des Polytechniciens, Hôtel de Poulpry

12 Rue de Poitiers

75007 Paris France
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Program

REGISTRATION & BREAKFAST

8.00

WELCOME & INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

8.30

Mélanie THILL-TAYARA | Partner, Dechert, Paris (bio)

OPENING DISCUSSION

8.45

Étienne CHANTREL | Head of Mergers Unit, French Competition Authority, Paris (bio)

Discussants: Laurent FLOCHEL | Vice President, CRA, Paris (bio)
Mélanie THILL-TAYARA | Partner, Dechert, Paris (bio)

#1 TECHNOLOGY/DIGITAL AND MERGER REVIEW

9.15

Recently, several jurisdictions have proposed to adapt existing competition law instruments in order to address the challenges raised by the digital economy and the development of new technologies. The DMA in the EU and the DMU in the UK are offering new theories of harm to tackle killer acquisitions or vertical mergers. This panel aims to discuss the legal and practical issues that these new regimes present for mergers.

Nela LOPEZ GALDOS | Global Competition Policy Manager, Meta, Washington D.C. (bio)
Mike WALKER | Chief Economist Adviser, Competition and Markets Authority, London (bio)
Marc ZEDLER | Deputy Head of Unit, DG COMP, Brussels (bio)

Moderators: Laurence BARY | Partner, Dechert, Paris (bio)
Rani HABASH | Partner, Dechert, Washington D.C. (bio)

COFFEE BREAK

10.15

#2 FOREIGN SUBSIDIES, FDI…

10.30

On 30 June 2022, European legislators reached a political agreement on the Foreign Subsidies Regulation giving the Commission new tools to review foreign investments in order to restore fair competition between European and non-European companies. Currently, only the subsidies granted by the Member States are subject to control. The challenge is to control foreign investments which currently provide massive subsidies to their industry, creating a distortion of competition. What is the impact of these new rules on merger control?

Ief DAEMS | Associate General Counsel and Legal Director Competition Law EMEA, Cisco, Brussels (bio)
Céline DARRIGADE | Head of Antitrust & Regulation, Thalès, Paris (bio)
Thibault SIRE | Case Handler, DG COMP, Brussels (bio)

Moderators: Marjolein DE BACKER | Senior Associate, Dechert, Brussels (bio)
Sophie PELÉ | Partner, Dechert, Paris (bio)

#3 IN-HOUSE COUNSEL ROUNDTABLE: HOT MERGER ISSUES

11.30

Recent legal and economic evolutions paired with growing political pressure have led to the emergence of new challenges for in-house lawyers in the sphere of merger control. These include issues relating to the impact of public interest questions in the context of mergers in areas such as energy, healthcare or in a crisis context, which are not addressed consistently across jurisdictions. Jurisdictional issues, multiple filings, gun-jumping and the provision of misleading information to competition authorities have also been key topics in recent years. So how do in-house lawyers perceive and address these new challenges within their companies?

Eric AMAR | General Counsel, Bolloré Transport & Logistics, Paris (bio)
Stanislas DE GUIGNÉ | Lead Competition Law Counsel for Refining Chemicals & Marketing Services, TotalEnergies, Paris (bio)
Karima EL SAMMAA | Global Head of Competition Law, ArcelorMittal, Paris (bio)
Laurent EYMARD | Principal, Brattle, Paris (bio)
François GARNIER | Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Ipsen, Paris (bio)

Moderators: Marion PROVOST | National Partner, Dechert, Paris (bio)
Clemens YORK | Partner, Dechert, Brussels (bio)

CLOSING DISCUSSION

12.30

The European Commission’s new expansive reading of article 22 was upheld by the General Court in Illumina/Grail. What are the practical lessons? How does the Commission identify candidate cases? How does it act when its interest is triggered? Are companies initiating voluntary approaches?

Alec BURNSIDE | Partner, Dechert, Brussels (bio)
Simon GENEVAZ | Deputy Head of Unit - Mergers Case Support and Policy, DG COMP, Brussels (bio)

LUNCH

13.00

The panels will be translated from French to English.

PREVIOUS ATTENDEES

Enforcers: Competition Authority, Danish competition and consumer authority, DG Comp, European Commission, European Payments Council, French Council of State, French General Secretariat of European Affairs, French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority, French Treasury, Hungarian Competition Authority, Malaysian Aviation Commission, Permanent Representation of Hungary to the EU, Philippine Competition Commission, Spanish Competition Authority, Turkish Council of Women, UNCTAD, etc..

Corporations: Amazon, Apple, BDI, Beiersdorf, Bertelsmann, BHP, Casino, Deutsche Telekom, EDF, Engie, Ericsson, Essilorluxottica, Groupe Le Duff, L’Oréal, La Banque Postale, MEDEF, Nets Denmark, Openreach, Orange, Philip Morris International, Soitec, Solvay, Squair, Telekom Srbija, Thales, Thomson Reuters, Unilever, Veolia, Vodafone etc.

Economists: Albers Consulting, Charles River Associates, Cornerstone Research, DT Economics, Economists Incorporated, EconOne, Finsbury Glover Hering, HBK, KPMG, NERA Economic Consulting, Rothschild Global Advisory, etc.

Academics: Centre de Droit Économique d’Aix-en-Provence, College of Europe, Copenhagen Economics, Kuleuven, Kuwait International Law School, Lille Catholic University, Lithuanian Social Sciences Centre, National Law University Of Assam, University of Edinburgh, University of Hohenheim, University of Nantes, University of Paris 1 Sorbonne, University of Paris 2 Pantheon-Assas, University of Paris Saclay (UVSQ), University of Paris-Est Créteil, University of Phillipines, University of Rennes, University of Verona, University of Versailles Saint Quentin En Yvelines, University of Yonsei, etc.

If you would like to read about this event’s topic, you can access the following Concurrences documents. If you do not have access, please inquire for Subscription here.

Panel 1: Technology and Merger Review

1. Konstantina Bania, Sean-Paul Brankin, Jean Cattan, Francis Donnat, Damien Geradin, Martin d’Halluin, Pierre Larouche, Theano Karanikioti, Alexandre de Streel, Joëlle Toledano, Pat Treacy, Daniel Zimmer, The Digital Market Act, September 2022

2. Laurence Idot, David Bosco, Martine Behar-Touchais, Michel Debroux, Anne-Sophie Choné-Grimaldi, Benoît De Nayer, Pierre Petillault, Digital market Act: Competition law and digital giants (Nanterre, April 1, 2022), September 2022

3. Christopher Hutton, Matt Giles, Joe Beautridge, The UK Government announces a series of reforms for strengthening the UK Competition regime, 20 April 2022

4. UK Competition Authority, The UK Competition Authority investigates Big Tech companies over advertising tech concerns (Google / Meta), 11 March 2022

Panel 2: Foreign Subsidies, FDI…

1. Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Lode Van Den Hende, Morris Schonberg, The EU Commission reaches agreement on foreign subsidies regulation with the new regime scheduled to enter into force in 2023, 30 June 2022

2. Peter D. Camesasca, Carole Maczkovics, Sophie Bertin, The EU Parliament signs the Commission’s proposal which would allow the Commission to examine whether foreign subsidies have a potential negative impact on the internal market, 4 May 2022

3. Thibault Sire, The uneven playing field: How to deal with foreign subsidies when assessing mergers?, February 2022

4. Lise Damelet, Règlement européen relatif aux subventions étrangères, Dictionnaire de droit de la concurrence

Panel 3: In-House Counsel Roundtable: Hot Merger Issues

1. UK Competition Authority, The UK Competition Authority finds that the merger between two dental service providers raises competition concerns in parts of Yorkshire and Derbyshire (Riviera Bidco / Rodericks Dental), 23 August 2022

2. Alain Ronzano, Gun jumping: The European Commission issues a final statement of objections alleging that a pharmaceutical company has prematurely acquired one of its competitors in violation of Article 7 of the Merger Regulation (Illumina / Grail), 19 July 2022

3. General Court of the European Union, The EU General Court upholds a €28M fine on a Japanese multinational for gun jumping in its acquisition of a company which provides medical imaging services (Canon / Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation), 18 May 2022

4. UK Competition Authority, The UK Competition Authority prepares a report on the merger between a material manufacturer and a telecommunications company in light of a public interest intervention notice issued over the proposed acquisition (Perpetuus / Taurus), 5 September 2021

Organizers

This is the 10th edition of this joint conference organized by Concurrences and Dechert, in partnership with sponsors. The attendee list will be communicated to the speakers. By registering for this conference, you are submitting your information to the event organisers who will use it to communicate with you regarding this event and their other services. This event will be recorded. If your question is selected for the Q&A session, you are consenting to be recorded. The official hashtag of this event on our social media is #GlobalMergerControl. Use it to get updated and add your input to the discussions. You can check the news of this event on our Twitter, Linkedin Company page, Linkedin Group or Instagram.

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Maison des Polytechniciens, Hôtel de Poulpry

12 Rue de Poitiers

75007 Paris France