The CMA today published a penalty notice addressed to Sabre Corporation in the context of its anticipated acquisition of Farelogix Inc, for its failure to comply with two Section 109 Enterprise Act Notices. The anticipated acquisition is currently being examined by the CMA after its Merger Intelligence Committee identified the transaction as requiring further investigation … Read more
On 9 October 2019 the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (SoS) announced that she is intending to accept undertakings offered by the parties to the proposed acquisition of British satellite operator Inmarsat plc by Connect BidCo (a private-equity led Consortium including equity funds based in Canada). This deal has been closely … Read more
We were delighted to host the annual GCR Live Competition Litigation Conference at our London office yesterday, which explored key current themes in competition litigation in an interactive discussion panel format. Christopher Bellamy QC opened the conference with an insightful keynote address. This was followed by a series of discussions involving a distinguished line up … Read more
On 24 September 2019 the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) imposed its largest ever fine for a single breach of an interim enforcement order (IEO) on Paypal, in the context of its acquisition of iZettle. This record fine is the latest in a series of recent fines which have underscored the CMA’s commitment to … Read more
On 10 September 2019 the UK Government published the text of a second Competition Brexit SI, the Competition (Amendment etc.)(EU Exit)(No2) Regulations 2019 (the new Regulations) which make a number of changes to the original Competition (Amendment etc.)(EU Exit) Regulation 2019 (the principal Regulations). The principal Regulations are discussed in an earlier blog post here. … Read more
On 6 August 2019 the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published an unwinding order requiring the reversal of post-completion integration steps taken in the completed acquisition by Bottomline Technologies Limited (Bottomline UK) of Experian Limited’s Experian Payments Gateway business (the EPG business). The order is intended to restore the market position to what it … Read more
On 16 August 2019 the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ruled that a public interest intervention notice (PIIN) issued by the then Secretary of State for digital, culture, medial and sport (DCMS) into two newspaper mergers was issued in time, but that the time limit for the Secretary of State to make a reference for an … Read more
There has been a flurry of transactional activity in the UK defence sector over the last week. These deals, and the public interest considerations they raise, will test the UK’s current approach to reviewing foreign investment in sensitive sectors. The acquisition of Rheinmetall Defence by BAE Systems: on 19 July 2019, the CMA published its … Read more
On 10th May 2019 the CMA secured the disqualification of three former directors of companies involved in a bid rigging cartel in the design, construction and fit-out services sector. The three directors have given legally binding disqualification undertakings under which they will be banned from acting as directors or being involved in the management of … Read more
