Overview   Mergers

The European Commission has informed MMG Limited ('MMG') of its preliminary view that its proposed acquisition of Anglo American's nickel business may restrict competition in the market for low-carbon ferronickel, a key alloying material in stainless steel production. In particular, the Commission is concerned that, following the transaction, MMG could divert low-carbon ferronickel supply away from European markets, leading to higher costs in European stainless steel production.

On 4 September 2026, DG Competition published a new empirical study on the impact of mergers reviewed by the Commission on innovation and markups  prepared by Professors Joel Stiebale (DICE, Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf) and Florian Szücs (WU Vienna University of Economics).  This study is particularly relevant at the time of the ongoing review of the EU Merger Guidelines, in the context of which the Commission study on the dynamic effects of mergers was also recently published.
On Tuesday 15 September 2026, DG Competition organises an online lunchtime workshop to discuss the findings of the new empirical study with economic experts and to compare the findings of the study to other recent research. At the workshop the presentation of the study report by the authors will be followed by a discussion with Fiona Scott Morton (Yale University), Sara Calligaris (OECD) and Giulio Federico (Oxera).

As part of its review of the Merger Guidelines, the Commission has commissioned a study on the dynamic effects of mergers. Prepared by Oxera with leading academic experts, the study will be published on the Commission’s website by September 2026. A dedicated economic workshop will also be organised on 11 September 2026 in Brussels to present and discuss the outcomes of the study. Registrations for the workshop are open.

This report provides an ex post assessment of how mergers reviewed by the European Commission affect innovation and markups. We link merging firms and their rivals identified in DG Competition’s merger case database to patent data from PATSTAT and financial accounts from Orbis. Using a firm-by-year panel, we estimate staggered event-study and difference-in-differences models with matched control groups.

The Commission unconditionally cleared the creation of a 50/50 joint venture between Airbus and Air France for worldwide component maintenance services for the A350 family.
The case is the first example of the renewed role of efficiencies in the overall assessment of a transaction. The Parties engaged early on, on a no-prejudice basis: pool synergies and geographic footprint synergies were found prima facie plausible as merger- specific and consumer- beneficial, even if their verifiability ultimately could not be established during the Phase I investigation.

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition by Paramount Skydance Corporation (‘Paramount') of Warner Bros. Discovery (‘Warner'). The approval is conditional upon full compliance with the commitments offered by Paramount.

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed merger between Saipem and Subsea7 to become "Saipem7". The Commission is concerned that the proposed concentration may significantly impact effective competition in some offshore engineering and construction service markets.

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition by Baker Hughes Company (‘Baker Hughes') of Chart Industries, Inc. (‘Chart'), both headquartered in the US. The approval is conditional upon full compliance with the commitments offered by Baker Hughes and Chart.

The European Commission has opened a formal investigation to assess whether, in the context of the proposed acquisition by XXXLutz of Porta, the parties may have engaged in gun jumping, which would be in breach of the EU Merger Regulation.

Together with the National Competition Authorities of the European Competition Network (ECN), we published today a Joint Statement on the implementation of merger call-in mechanisms. It has become increasingly evident that some concentrations that do not meet mandatory notification thresholds may still have a significant impact on competition, to the detriment of consumers and competitive market dynamics. As more and more Member States introduce call-in mechanisms into their national legal frameworks, this Joint Statement comes at a timely moment.
The three-page Joint Statement recognises that call-in mechanisms can be an effective and proportionate tool to ensure that potentially harmful mergers do not escape scrutiny, while also setting out key principles to enhance legal certainty and predictability for businesses.

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Xella international S.A. ('Xella') by Holcim Ltd ('Holcim'). The approval is conditional upon full compliance with the commitment offered by Holcim, which entails the full divestment of Holcim's AAC blocks plant in Adjud, Romania.

As part of its ongoing public consultation on the Draft Merger Guidelines (published on 30 April 2026 for replies by 26 June 2026, more information here), DG Competition is organizing an interactive technical stakeholder workshop on key aspects of the draft text of the Merger Guidelines.

The aim of the workshop is to gather views on all sections of the draft text and discuss potential amendments to the final Merger Guidelines. 

The Commission takes note of today’s judgments of the General Court which dismissed the actions for annulment brought by Vivendi and Lagardère against two Commission’s decisions from 2023. Those decisions required Vivendi and Lagardère to submit certain internal documents as part of the Commission’s ongoing investigation into whether Vivendi breached EU merger rules by implementing its acquisition of Lagardère before merger approval.
The Commission will carefully study the judgments and reflect on possible next steps.
See also judgment in Lagardère v Commission.

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of BASF's coatings division ('BASF Coatings') by The Carlyle Group Inc. ('Carlyle'). The approval is conditional upon full compliance with the commitments offered by Carlyle, which entails divesting the worldwide polysulfides business of Nouryon Ltd. ('Nouryon') to a suitable purchaser.

The European Commission has unconditionally approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition by Arla Foods amba ('Arla') of Deutsches Milchkontor eG ('DMK') and Drents Overijsselse Coöperatie Kaas U.A.('DOC'). The Commission concluded that the transaction would raise no competition concerns in the European Economic Area ('EEA').

The European Commission has unconditionally approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition by Suzano S.A. of Kimberly Clark IFP NewCo B.V. The Commission concluded that the transaction would raise no competition concerns in the European Economic Area ('EEA').

The fourth issue of 2026 includes the following articles: "Cleared for Take-Off, Subject to Conditions" (looking at the Commission’s conditional approval of Boeing’s acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems following a Phase I investigation) ; and "M.11939 FrieslandCampina/Milcobel – A dairy tale" (which covers the Commission’s first assessment of a merger between dairy cooperatives in the context of a sustained milk shortage, following an in-depth investigation into the dairy sector in Belgium and the Netherlands.)

The European Commission has launched today a public consultation inviting comments on the draft of the new EU Merger Guidelines. These will replace the current Horizontal Merger Guidelines and the Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines. This marks the most significant reform in EU merger control of the past two decades.
See also the consultation's form, as well as the corresponding COMP Flash.

The draft Merger Guidelines will replace the Horizontal Merger Guidelines (published in 2004) and the Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines (published in 2008) (jointly the “Guidelines”). The goal is to ensure that the revised Guidelines are up-to-date and flexible enough to allow the Commission to protect competition under the Merger Regulation in evolving modern market realities, while always respecting the overarching legal framework and contribute to the competitiveness and resilience on the Internal Market. In addition, the revised Guidelines should provide increased transparency and predictability to the business community as to how the Commission assesses mergers.
The purpose of this consultation is to gather stakeholders' and citizens' views on the draft Merger Guidelines, which will inform the final text of the Merger Guidelines.
See also the Commission's press release, as well as the corresponding COMP Flash.

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed creation of a joint venture between UPM-Kymmene Corporation ('UPM') and Sappi Limited ('Sappi'). The Commission is concerned that the transaction may reduce competition in certain markets for the production and supply of communication paper and specialty paper in the European Economic Area ('EEA') and result in higher prices, less choice or reduced quality.