4th International Mergers Conference

Corporations: Amazon, AmericanExpress, Apple, Asda, Auchan, Retail, BAE Systems, Bausch & Lomb, BBC, CCIA, Connectt, Costa Coffee, EuroEnergy, General Electric, GSMA, Illumina, ING, International Airlines Group, Intesa Sanpaolo, Kroll, Liberty Global, Lloyds Banking Group, Market Securities, NASDAQ, NBCUniversal, Openreach, Qualcomm, Rolls Royce, Shell, Telefonica, The Coca-Cola Company, Verizon, Visa, Walmart, ZX Ventures...

Agencies: Algerian Competition Council, Autorité de la concurrence, Competition and Markets Authority, Competition Appeal Tribunal, Danish Competition and Consumer Authority, DG COMP, Financial Conduct Authority, General Court of the EU, Georgian National Communications Commission, Hellenic Competition Commission, Hungarian Competition Authority, Mexican Federal Economic Competition Commission, OECD, Ofcom, Ofgem, Punjab Bar Council...

Law Firms: ACTECON, Acuity Law, Akin Gump, Arnold & Porter, Ashurst, Baker McKenzie, BDB Pitmans, Bird & Bird, Bixer Partners, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, Callol, Coca & Asociados, Charles Russell Speechlys, Cleary Gottlieb, Clifford Chance, Colman Coyle, Cooley, Deprez Guignot Associés, EY, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Geradin Partners, Gowling WLG, Greenberg Traurig, Hausfeld Havel & Partners, Hengeler Mueller, Herbert Smith Freehills, India Regulatory & Policy Group, Jones Day, Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Lavoielegal, Linklaters, Mattos Filho Advogados, Merilampi Attorneys, Morgan Lewis & Bockius, Norton Rose Fulbright, Pinsent Masons, PWW Solicitors, Quinn Emanuel, Reed Smith, SAI Law & Economics, Schoenherr, Shearman & Sterling, Sidley Austin, Skadden, Slaughter & May, Taylor Wessing, Travers Smith, Varlet Bertrand, White & Case...

Economic consultancies: Alvarez & Marsal, Analysis Group, Compass Lexecon, Cornerstone Research, CRA, Econda, ESP Consulting, Finsbury, Frontier Economics, Intelad, KPMG, NERA Economic Consulting, OmniCLES, Oxera, RBB Economics, Smith & Williamson, Taconic Capital Advisors...

Media: Bloomberg, Dealreporter, GCR, LexisNexis, MLex, PaRR, Politico, Reorg, Thomson Reuters...

Academia: All Souls College, Bocconi University, BPP University, Brunel University, Edinburgh University, ESSEC, Georgetown University, Hiroshima Shudo University, King’s College London, London School of Economics, London South Bank University, Newcastle University, Oxford University, Portucalense Institute for Legal Research, Queen Mary University, St Mary’s University, Stanford Law School, The Graduate Institute, University College London, University of Cambridge, University of Cergy-Pontoise, University of Chicago, University of East Anglia, University of Edinburgh, University of Essex, University of Glasgow, University of Leeds, University of Reading, University of Toronto, University of Vienna, University of Westminster, University of York...

DOCUMENTATION

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: Developments of New Theories of Harm in Merger Reviews

1. European Commission, The EU Commission conditionally approves the acquisition of a leading video game publisher by a Big Tech company (Microsoft / Activision Blizzard), 15 May 2023

2. UK Competition Authority, The UK Competition Authority rejects the proposed commitments of a Big Tech company and blocks its proposed acquisition of a leading video game publisher (Microsoft / Activision Blizzard), 26 April 2023

3. UK Competition Authority, The UK Competition Authority narrows the scope of concerns in its phase 2 review of a merger between a Big Tech company and a leading video game publisher (Microsoft / Activision Blizzard), 24 March 2023

4. UK Competition Authority, The UK Competition Authority provisionally holds that the .7B acquisition of a gaming firm will lead to higher prices and fewer choices for UK gamers (Microsoft / Activision), 8 February 2023

5. Gönenç Gürkaynak, Zeynep Ayata Aydoğan, An evaluation of GAFAM’s acquisition proposals in light of experimental studies, November 2022

6. Cristina Caffarra, The EU General Court confirms Android abuse of dominance through tying, with the real legacy of the case extending far beyond (Google Android), 14 September 2022

7. Jay Modrall, The EU Commission prohibits the acquisition of a genetic and genomic analysis provider by a healthcare technology company focused on early cancer detection (Illumina / GRAIL), 6 September 2022

8. Jackie Holland, Vanessa Marton, Gee Kim, The UK Government signals increased scope of merger control in two recent legislative consultations, 6 May 2022

Panel 2: Sustainability in Merger Control

1. Simon Holmes selected papers on climate change, sustainability, and competition policy, May 2023

2. Benoît Cœuré, Charlotte Colin-Dubuisson, Gildas de Muizon, Benoît Cœuré: Fundamentals and novelties in competition policy, November 2022

3. Austrian Competition Authority, The Austrian Competition Authority publishes draft guidelines on the application of sustainability agreements, 1 June 2022

4. Simon Holmes, Sustainability & Competition policy: An overview of EU and national case law, 6 January 2022

Panel 3: Mergers in the Pharmaceutical Industry

1. Michael Clancy, Peter L’Ecluse, Catherine Longeval, The Danish Competition Authority makes recommendations for increased competition in pharmacy sector to bolster lower prices and improve services, 29 September 2022

2. Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Daniel Vowden, Kristien Geeurickx, The EU General Court endorses the Commission’s revised approach to review transactions below EU and national merger thresholds via Article 22 EUMR referrals (Illumina / GRAIL), 13 July 2022

3. Michael Clancy, Peter L’Ecluse, Catherine Longeval, Koen T’Syen, The Luxembourg Competition Authority publishes results of sector inquiry into medicines and pharmacies and makes recommendations for regulatory reform, 17 June 2022

4. Georges Siotis, Defining relevant markets in the pharmaceutical industry, May 2022

Panel 4: Merger Control and Private Equity

1. US Federal Trade Commission, The US FTC finalises its consent order permitting a private equity firm to acquire a number of clinics providing emergency veterinary services subject to divestments (JAB Consumer Partners / Ethos), 14 October 2022

2. US Federal Trade Commission, The US FTC approves final order requiring an oil extractor to sell off its Utah operations before being acquired by a private equity firm (EnCap / EP Energy), 14 September 2022

3. Romanian Competition Authority, The Romanian Competition Authority assesses an American in vitro diagnostics company’s joint takeover by a private equity firm and a South Korean rival (Meridian Bioscience / Bionsensor / SJL Partners), 1 September 2022

4. UK Competition Authority, The UK Competition Authority deems a merger between two veterinary firms as likely to be anti-competitive and gives the firm time to offer remedies or will proceed with a phase II investigation (VetPartners / Goddard), 28 April 2022

5. Phedon Nicolaides, The EU Commission issues a decision which states that risk finance aid in the form of tax relief based on the GBER must be limited to private investors, 14 February 2022