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The EU court's recent judgment in Commission v. CK Telecoms may make it more challenging to secure clearance for telecom and other companies pursuing mergers, illustrating its broad approach to mergers that risk harming competition without creating a dominant position, say Dominic Long and Christopher Best at Allen & Overy.
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As the recent Allen & Overy and Shearman Sterling deal announcement demonstrates, controlling the narrative is the priority when merger discussions begin, so law firms need to consider their stakeholder base and the best communication channels for each segment, ready to adapt to the audience group's needs, say Ben Girdlestone and Bethany Durkin at Byfield.
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The U.K. government's recent plan to boost technology startups by tapping into pension sector funds may risk the hard-earned savings of members, so trustees need to be mindful of the proposals in light of their fiduciary duties, say Beth Brown and Riccardo Bruno at Arc Pensions.
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The U.K. government's recent report on the National Security and Investment Act's first full year of operation is to be applauded for disclosing more information on the act's notification system than was required, enabling a better understanding of what has taken place and what the next year may hold, say Andrea Hamilton and Ajal Notowicz at Milbank.
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The EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation introduces requirements that companies operating in the region must consider in M&A transactions, and any foreign financial contributions received by a target should be checked during the due diligence stage, with specific provisions for commission approval if a notification requirement is triggered, say Hendrik Viaene and Stéphane Dionnet at McDermott.
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The recent surge of interest in generative artificial intelligence and its use of machine learning algorithms means there are novel concerns as well as inherent risks for those engaging in M&A activity, and acquirers should pay careful attention to a target’s scope of ownership and licensing rights, say attorneys at Davis Polk.
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While the recent Court of Appeal case McGaughey v. Universities Superannuation Scheme attempts to link fossil fuel investment by trustees to significant risk of financial detriment, it is concerning that two out of 470,000 scheme members could be permitted to bring a claim without ensuring that other members are represented, says Anna Metadjer at Kingsley Napley.
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Fueled by a rising trend in the use of green loans, Hungary is making impressive progress in its journey toward achieving a net-zero future, although the development of social and sustainability-linked loans is still a work in progress, say Gergely Szalóki and Bálint Bodó at Schönherr.
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Recent events have put pressure on antitrust agencies to address the global cost-of-living crisis, but the relationship between competition and inflation is complex, and with competition agencies’ reluctance to act as price regulators, enforcement is unlikely to have a meaningful impact, say lawyers at Linklaters.
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Therese Chambers’ first speech since becoming the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority’s joint executive director provided insightful observations about the expected behaviors of firms and their legal advisers during investigations, indicating the advent of a proactive, prosecution-minded enforcement agency trying to do the right thing, says Richard Burger at WilmerHale.
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Global merger and acquisition markets had a tough start to the year, with inflation, rising interest rates and the Ukraine conflict knocking sentiment, but in the macroeconomic, deal makers have continued to unearth pockets of activity to keep deal volumes ticking over, say lawyers at White & Case.
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While German reform proposals will digitize corporate law formalities that have long been immune to change, international limitations remain, particularly for countries outside the European Union, as Germany moves to tighten regulatory hurdles to control inbound investment, say Marcus Geiss and Sonja Ruttmann at Gibson Dunn.
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The Competition and Markets Authority's recent review of the U.K. market for artificial intelligence foundation models is likely to feed into its recommendations concerning future legislative and regulatory changes, but may be overtaken by fast-changing developments, say lawyers at Cooley.
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The differing European Commission and U.K. Competition and Markets Authority outcomes regarding Microsoft's planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard demonstrate the need for better cooperation in the post-Brexit era, but the regulators still follow a rigorous approach and ultimately convergence may prevail over divergence, say Salomé Cisnal de Ugarte and Raphaël Fleischer at King & Spalding.
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The core objective of a newly adopted EU Commission package is to simplify merger review procedures, which is an evolution that is more than welcome, especially in light of the very recent regulation on foreign subsidies that imposes additional burdens on M&A transactions, say lawyers at McDermott.