Tag: merger control

The European Commission has cleared, for a second time and without imposing any 'remedies', the joint venture between music companies Sony and BMG, which had been set aside by the European Court of Justice in 2006.

The German energy giant dropped its €42.4 billion offer for Endesa, ending an 18-month battle that saw E.ON’s bid for the Spanish utility thwarted by repeated government intervention.

Artificially created national champions may have short-term appeal but are often to the long-term detriment of European consumers and competitiveness, the EU's competition commissioner has said.

The Commission's blocking in 2001 of the merger between Tetra Laval (packaging, Switzerland/Sweden) and Sidel (plastic bottles, France) has been definitively overruled by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

The Competitiveness Council adopted on 27 November new rules giving the Commission more power to investigate merger deals.

The Commission's DG Competition will undergo a profound restructuring to increase its efficiency in view of enlargement and of recent setbacks in Court

Addressing a conference in Brussels on 7 November, Competition Commissioner Mario Monti unveiled some details of his plans to reform the EU's antitrust rules. More transparency and better access to the Commission's dossier, an extended timeframe, an improved economic analysis and consumer involvement are some of the main elements of Mr Monti's future proposals.

The EU's Court of First Instance overturned on 22 October a decision by the Commission's Competition Authority to bar a merger between French companies Schneider and Legrand.

The fifth "European Competition Day" held on 26 February in Madrid, focused on competition policy and the consumer. In 2002, the EU's agenda will include the discussion of a multi-lateral framework on competition policy, a review of the merger control regulation and the decentralisation of the implementation of competition policy.

The Commission has approved the acquisition of Compaq Computer Corporation by Hewlett-Packard Company, two US-based global providers of computing and enterprise technology solutions. The merger is the largest ever in the Information Technology sector.

Statistics for the year 2000 shows a growing divergence in the willingness of the US and EU regulatory authorities to intervene in notified mergers.

The European Commission's competition authority gave the go-ahead to the Fiat-led consortium Italenergia for the takeover of Italy's biggest energy conglomerate Montedison. The green light for the takeover by a newly formed consortium of Italian carmaker Fiat and state-owned Electricité de France ends a long battle for control of Italy's second-largest power company.

Commission starts investigation into hostile takeover bid by Fiat and Electricité de France for Italian electricity producer Montedison

The Commission's antitrust service has circulated a preliminary recommendation to block the AOL-Time Warner merger.

The Commission expressed its competition concerns over the mergers of America Online, Time Warner and EMI.

The Commission's antitrust authorities decided to block the proposed merger between US telecoms giants MCI WorldCom and Sprint.