The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Telekom Romania Communications by Orange SA. The approval is conditional on the divestiture of TKR's 30% minority shareholding in Telekom Romania Mobile Communications, which is a direct competitor of Orange.

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess the proposed acquisition of GRAIL by Illumina, under the EU Merger Regulation. The Commission is concerned that the proposed acquisition may reduce competition and innovation in the emerging market for the development and commercialisation of cancer detection tests based on sequencing technologies.

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of Willis Towers Watson (‘WTW') by Aon. The approval is conditional on full compliance with a substantial set of commitments offered by Aon, including the divestment of central parts of WTW's business to the international brokerage company Arthur J. Gallagher (‘Gallagher'). The commitments will strengthen Gallagher in its capabilities in reinsurance and commercial risk brokerage and improve its footprint in the European Economic Area (‘EEA'). It will thus become a credible alternative to the combined entity post-transaction.

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess the proposed merger of Cargotec Corporation and Konecranes Plc under the EU Merger Regulation. The Commission is concerned that the proposed acquisition may reduce competition in the supply of certain container and cargo handling equipment in Europe.

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess the proposed acquisition of Air Europa by IAG, under the EU Merger Regulation. The Commission is concerned that the proposed transaction may reduce competition in the markets for passenger air transport services on Spanish domestic routes and on international routes to and from Spain.

With a view to improving its enforcement practice in merger control, the European Commission intends to evaluate whether its ex-ante assessments of future market developments, such as entry, expansion or imports, as set out in the EC’s merger decisions were correct.
The deadline to submit tenders to this open procedure is 15 September 2021.

11/05/2021. The European Commission's Directorate General for Competition, the United States’ Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), the Canadian Competition Bureau, and the UK's Competition and Markets Authority, launched a joint public consultation today in the field of pharmaceutical mergers. The purpose of this consultation is to gather ideas and views from all stakeholders in the field. These contributions will then feed into a workshop that will be organised by the Working Group.
You will find the public consultation here.

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of certain Suez waste management companies in Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Poland, by the Schwarz Group. The approval is conditional on the divestiture of Suez's lightweight packaging (“LWP”) sorting business in the Netherlands.

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess the proposed acquisition of Trimo, arhitekturne rešitve, d.o.o. (‘Trimo') by Kingspan Group plc (‘Kingspan'), under the EU Merger Regulation. The Commission is concerned that the proposed transaction may reduce competition and lead to price increases in the market for mineral fibre sandwich panels in a number of Member States and the UK.

The European Commission takes note of Air Canada and Transat's announcement that they have decided to terminate the proposed merger agreement according to which Air Canada intended to acquire sole control over Transat. The Commission confirms that the discussions with the companies and the proposed remedy package thus far were not able to adequately address the competition concerns identified by the Commission. The Commission had opened an in-depth investigation into the proposed transaction on 25 May 2020. 

The European Commission has published today a Staff Working Document that summarises the findings of the evaluation of procedural and jurisdictional aspects of EU merger control. Following the results of the evaluation, the Commission decided to adopt a communication providing guidance on the application of the referral mechanism between Member States and the Commission set out in Article 22 of the Merger Regulation, and launch an impact assessment on exploring policy options for further targeting and simplification of merger procedures.

The initiative aims to improve the EU merger control procedures, without impairing effective enforcement. The goal is to make EU merger control more efficient and less burdensome in cases that are unlikely to raise competition concerns and to allow the Commission to devote more resources to those cases where a detailed investigation is required. To this aim, the initiative will explore options to further simplify the process in both simplified and, where possible, non-simplified merger cases.

See also EC press release.

The initiative aims to improve the EU merger control procedures, without impairing effective enforcement. The goal is to make EU merger control more efficient and less burdensome in cases that are unlikely to raise competition concerns and to allow the Commission to devote more resources to those cases where a detailed investigation is required. To this aim, the initiative will explore options to further simplify the process in both simplified and, where possible, non-simplified merger cases.

See also EC press release.

The initiative aims to improve the EU merger control procedures, without impairing effective enforcement. The goal is to make EU merger control more efficient and less burdensome in cases that are unlikely to raise competition concerns and to allow the Commission to devote more resources to those cases where a detailed investigation is required. To this aim, the initiative will explore options to further simplify the process in both simplified and, where possible, non-simplified merger cases.

See also EC press release.

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of GrandVision by EssilorLuxottica. The approval is conditional on full compliance with commitments offered by EssilorLuxottica.

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Eaton's hydraulics business (“Eaton Hydraulics”) by Danfoss. The approval is conditional on full compliance with the commitments offered by Danfoss.

The European Commission's Directorate General for Competition together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Canadian Competition Bureau, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority, the U.S. Department of Justice, and three Offices of Attorneys General launched today a Multilateral working group to analyse the effects of mergers in the pharmaceutical sector. The working group was initiated by the FTC and is in line with close cooperation between national competition authorities.

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Varian Medical Systems by Siemens AG, through its subsidiary Siemens Healthineers. The approval is conditional on full compliance with the commitments offered by Siemens to ensure the interoperability of the companies' medical imaging and radiotherapy solutions with third-party solutions.

The European Commission has adopted final measures to preserve the divestment of the former Aleris plant in Duffel, Belgium, by Novelis under the EU Merger Regulation. To obtain clearance of its acquisition of Aleris in 2019, Novelis offered to divest the plant in binding commitments but failed to close the sale within the deadline set in those commitments, despite extensions granted.

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Belchim by Mitsui. The approval is conditional on full compliance with a commitments package offered by Mitsui.