A blog about the intersection of antitrust, foreign investment control, politics, and everything in between
The German beer cartel with all its tweaks and twists has been broadly covered both by legal magazines and “normal” newspapers. Unsurprisingly, beer manufacturers agreeing on price increases for one of Germany’s vital products definitely makes for good headlines in the news. Still, I would be remiss if I did not use the chance to … Continue reading The Kölsch saga – Klüngel? Or even more?
Co-authored by Friederike Melters. Earlier this month, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) declared dawn raids by the European Commission invalid. The decisions confirm that a “procedural” step like a dawn raid can be appealed by itself and that it can be invalid because of previous procedural mistakes. They tie in with other court decisions, … Continue reading Procedural errors – rich case law and five key takeaways
The fact that antitrust proceedings can take a year or two is not really a surprise. But recently, the General Court of the European Union (i.e. first instance!) had to deal with a case concerning a cartel which had started in 1989 and whose members were already fined (for the first time) in 2002. That … Continue reading It ain’t over ‘til it‘s over: Commission wins after 20 years (?)
At the beginning of the year, we took the liberty to pause our blog for a couple of weeks. Reflecting on January in hindsight, there have been three developments which each might not justify a post on its own, but are just too interesting (and a continuation of previous posts) not to be mentioned at … Continue reading Best of the rest – News in January
At the beginning of the year, we blogged about the video-gaming industry and outlined some of the reasons why it might face more scrutiny from antitrust regulators in the future. The obvious trigger for our post was Microsoft’s announcement to acquire Activision Blizzard in a mega $69 billion deal. Although the antitrust proceedings worldwide seem … Continue reading Far from over: Gaming mega deal keeps regulators busy
The decreasing number of leniency applications seems to be one of the main concerns of antitrust regulators (and private litigation firms) these days. Many argue that leniency applicants are an easy target for civil damage claims and need to be better protected in order to increase the number of leniency applications. Whilst this debate is … Continue reading Comeback of leniency: More than a first step?
The question of whether to appeal a cartel fine in court is often not an easy one for the companies involved – not least because some courts in Europe even have the power to increase fines. To give companies new “hope” for the future, this post brings together a number of recent court decisions across … Continue reading Regulators got it wrong: Courts reduce fines across Europe
Deal certainty and timing predictability are key issues in every transaction involving private equity investors. So, preparing apostilled versions of registry excerpts for merger control filings in jurisdictions where a-never-heard-of subsidiary of a portfolio company has negligible sales to two de-minimis-customers to get clearance in four months has understandably never evoked cheers by clients. However, … Continue reading Private equity in the spotlight – In the US and beyond?
One or the other company that has been investigated in a cartel case may know the feeling: In more or less informal discussions with the authority, one is overcome by the impression of not being fully informed about the status of the investigation, while other affected companies could have received more information. Whilst this is … Continue reading Right to equal treatment in cartel cases…or not?
When conducting antitrust compliance trainings or otherwise advising businesses on antitrust compliance, now and then one hears “but the customers want it that way” as a justification for conduct that could raise antitrust issues. A typical response might begin with “That is appreciated, but unfortunately antitrust law is not at the disposal of the customer…” … Continue reading Antitrust is not at the disposal of the customer – a ground-breaking case
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