Artificial intelligence and antitrust law: Only the beginning?

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to reshape industries and economies worldwide. Antitrust regulators are confronted with the challenge of balancing competitive landscapes while fostering innovation. Recent statements shed light on their evolving stance, as more cases highlight the practical intersection of AI and antitrust law. The intersection of artificial intelligence and antitrust … Continue reading Artificial intelligence and antitrust law: Only the beginning? →

Small things matter

Recent cases indicate that no company or industry is too small for antitrust scrutiny, including more niche industries like breaded scampi and window blinds. While small market exemptions exist in countries like Germany, they don't necessarily protect against antitrust enforcement.

Potential competition revisited

You know those stories that remain open-ended, leaving you wondering about how they might have concluded? But you are lucky, that does not is not supposed to happen on antitrustpolitics.com, as we also report on how cases continue every now and then. Therefore we take the recent EU court decision in AdC/EDP as an opportunity … Continue reading Potential competition revisited →

Agree to disagree: Settlement decision challenged in court

It may sound counterintuitive: Striking a deal with a regulator to conclude a cartel investigation, only to later challenge the very same decision in court. The General Court recently had to deal with this situation in relation to the Ethylene cartel and clarified some important aspects of the European settlement procedure. Here is what companies … Continue reading Agree to disagree: Settlement decision challenged in court →

Follow-on damage claims

This week has seen dawn raids in construction chemicals and cartel fines in pharma. What often follows such events in the long run are cartel damage claims. While they have become an essential part in the daily business of many antitrust practitioners, for most companies they are rare events, be it as a claimant or … Continue reading Follow-on damage claims →

European Commission orders unbundling

The saga of Illumina/Grail has written its next chapter: Yesterday, the European Commission ordered Illumina to divest Grail and restore the situation prior to the acquisition. This post takes a look at the prerequisites for such an order and its implications. As a quick reminder, in September 2020, US biotechnology company Illumina agreed to acquire … Continue reading European Commission orders unbundling →

Wire harnesses – this time subject of a lawful cooperation and not of a cartel

Wire harnesses have already been subject of a cartel decision. However, this time they are subject of a legitimate cooperation. Last month, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) declared that it has no objections to a cooperation organized by the "Arena2036 Research Campus", which aims at standardizing the production of wire harnesses. While the FCO's … Continue reading Wire harnesses – this time subject of a lawful cooperation and not of a cartel →

The sky is not the limit

The week got off to the worst possible start for Booking: On Monday, the European Commission prohibited Booking’s proposed acquisition of eTraveli, one of the main providers of flight online travel agency services in Europe (we have already reported about the case here). In this post, I summarize the key points of the decision to … Continue reading The sky is not the limit →

New German FDI association – Learnings from the first annual meeting

Practitioners often criticize the lack of transparency in FDI proceedings in Germany (and elsewhere). The fact that decisions are not made public further adds to that lack of transparency. So, the inaugural meeting of the German “Forum Investitionsprüfung”, which was also attended by many representatives from German ministries, presented a valuable opportunity to gain insights … Continue reading New German FDI association – Learnings from the first annual meeting →

Germany blocks the full acquisition of an already majority-owned company

News broke yesterday that the German government prohibited the acquisition of 45% of the shares in a German satellite company by a Chinese acquirer. The notable twist: The acquirer already held 53% of the shares in the target. Kleo Connect is a German start-up that wants to provide global satellite data communications. 53% of its … Continue reading Germany blocks the full acquisition of an already majority-owned company →