EU Merger Control

Hear directly from Guillaume Loriot, Deputy Director General, Merger, DG Comp, European Commission on their policy and enforcement priorities.

Review Article 22 after Illumina/Grail, how member states are approaching it and recommendations for transactional security in light of these developments. Then, consider key policy and case law updates at a national level.

Examine implications of Illumina/Grail for the European Commission’s approach to killer acquisitions as well as whether it is adopting a tougher approach in non-horizontal mergers, and the prospects for a new merger control regulation to address these issues.

Share practical strategies for managing multijurisdictional mergers including how to best plan transactions, timing strategies and tips for managing parallel EU, UK and US investigations. Then, consider the interplay of foreign direct investment regimes, foreign subsidies regulation and merger control. 

Consider merger control obligations for gatekeepers under the DMA, how it will work in conjunction with Article 22 and lessons learnt from significant digital mergers including Meta/Kustomer and Facebook/Giphy cases.

Discuss the simplification of merger control procedure, whether there is a need for new pre-notification period guidelines, gunjumping, misleading information and forensic document requests during this practical session.