Overview   Mergers

On 5 March 2026, DG Competition will host a conference to discuss key aspects of the ongoing review of the Merger Guidelines. This event will bring together leading experts and stakeholders to explore the latest developments and challenges in EU merger control.

The conference will debate three broad themes:

1. Driving productivity and innovation in the Single Market: the role of EU Merger control;
2. How can mergers promote a more sustainable Europe?; and
3. Mergers and the cost of living: price effects, workers woes and other impacts to society.

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition by Universal Music Group N.V. ('UMG') of Downtown Music Holdings LLC ('Downtown'). The approval is conditional upon full compliance with the commitments offered by the companies, which entail the full divestment of Downtown's royalty accounting platform Curve Royalty Systems, Ltd ('Curve').

The European Commission has unconditionally approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition by Google of Wiz. The Commission concluded that the transaction would raise no competition concerns in the European Economic Area ('EEA').

The OECD Competition Division and the European Commission Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP) are joining efforts to bring together key findings from the revision of the OECD Recommendation and the European Commission’s public consultation. Experts on merger control will discuss current international best practices and principles that govern merger control, touching upon aspects of competitiveness, resilience and the effects of mergers on innovation.
The event publicly presents the revision of the OECD Recommendation on Merger Review amended by the OECD Council meeting at Ministerial level on 3 June 2025 and showcases core insights from the European Commission’s public consultation.

In the context of the review of the Merger Guidelines, as a follow-up to the public consultation, DG Competition is organizing two interactive technical stakeholder workshops on key aspects of the review of the Merger Guidelines. The aim of the workshops is to gather views on these important topics of the review and discuss how they could be incorporated in the draft Merger Guidelines.

1. Workshop 1: Scale, Competitiveness and Efficiencies. Brussels, 4 December 2025, 9.00 – 17:00 CET
2. Workshop 2: Innovation, Investment, Sustainability, Labour and Democracy. Brussels, 20 January 2026, 9.00 – 17:00 CET

The third issue of 2025 includes the following articles: SES/Intelsat - Merger Control in a Changing Satellite Market; UniCredit/Banco BPM - A Shakespearian drama; and Liberty Media/Dorna Sports - How to avoid going round in circles (on market definition).

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition by Vandemoortele Group of Délifrance. The approval is conditional upon full compliance with the commitments offered by the companies.

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of joint control of Terminal Catalunya (‘TERCAT') by Terminal Investment Limited Holding (‘TIL') and Hutchison Ports. The Commission has preliminary concerns that the transaction may lead to higher prices or reduced quality of container terminal services at the port of Barcelona, Spain.

The European Commission has approved unconditionally, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Kellanova by Mars, Incorporated (‘Mars'). The Commission has concluded that the proposed transaction would not raise competition concerns in the European Economic Area (‘EEA').

The European Commission has informed Universal Music Group (‘UMG') of its preliminary view that its proposed acquisition of Downtown may restrict competition in the market for the wholesale distribution of recorded music.

The European Commission has approved unconditionally, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (‘IPG') by Omnicom Group Inc. (‘Omnicom'). The Commission concluded that the merger would raise no competition concerns in the European Economic Area (‘EEA').

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Anglo American's nickel business (‘the target') by MMG. The Commission has preliminary concerns that the transaction could enable MMG to divert ferronickel supply away from European markets, leading to higher costs and reduced quality in European stainless steel production.

The second issue of 2025 includes the following articles: Broadcom/VMware – the importance of speaking the same language; Korean Air/Asiana – a race for cargo space; Buying Ansys - A Synopsys of a chip design story; International Paper / DS Smith – Blurred Lines in a Square-Box Deal; Constantia / Aluflexpack – Unpacking comPETition concerns; Safran/Collins – Remove Concerns Before Flight.

The European Commission published the contributions received in response to the public consultation on the review of the EU Merger Guidelines. The package includes a Summary of the feedback, along with an Overview of the main trends identified in the replies to the General and In-depth Consultations.
The key opinion trends will be debated during the interactive technical stakeholder workshops. Furthermore, a dedicated conference “Shaping the Future of EU Merger Control” will take place early next year.

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. (‘Spirit') by The Boeing Company (‘Boeing'). The approval is conditional upon full compliance with the commitments offered by the companies.

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway.com (‘JET') by Naspers through its subsidiary Prosus. The approval is conditional upon full compliance with the commitments offered by Naspers.

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess, under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (‘FSR'), the acquisition by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company PJSC (‘ADNOC') of Covestro. The Commission has preliminary concerns that foreign subsidies granted by the United Arab Emirates (‘UAE') could distort the EU internal market.

The European Commission has opened a formal investigation to determine whether, during the merger investigation of the acquisition by KKR & Co. Inc. (‘KKR') of NetCo, KKR provided incorrect or misleading information to the Commission.

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Downtown by Universal Music Group (‘UMG'). The Commission has preliminary concerns that the transaction may allow UMG to reduce competition in the wholesale market for the distribution of recorded music in the European Economic Area (‘EEA') by acquiring commercially sensitive data of its rival record labels. The Commission is also preliminarily concerned that the transaction may allow UMG to reduce competition in the market for the supply of artist and label (‘A&L') services in the EEA by removing an important competitive force. A&L services consist mainly of distribution services to third-party labels and artists, including monetisation, marketing and promotion as well as data analytics and management.

The European Commission has informed Vivendi of its preliminary view that the company breached the notification requirement and the ‘standstill obligation' set out in the EU Merger Regulation (‘EUMR'), as well as the conditions and obligations attached to the Commission's decision of 9 June 2023 to clear the Vivendi/Lagardère transaction.