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Mergers & Acquisitions
Mergers and acquisition news from MLex includes all the filing details from pre-notification to review, approval and compliance. MLex breaks news and provides expert commentary on merger investigations and identifies potential hurdles. MLex merger news is relied on by leading law firms, regulators, economic advisors, asset managers and hedge funds. The selected stories below represent some of the latest M&A news reporting from our investigative journalists across the globe.
Recent Mergers & Acquisitions articles
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Microsoft is set to appeal a UK block on its proposed acquisition of game developer Activision Blizzard -
Microsoft is set to appeal a UK block on its proposed acquisition of game developer Activision Blizzard. But reversing a decision by the Competition and Markets Authority is fiendishly hard; in fact, it's never been done in a merger case — at least not in recent memory -
Credit Suisse shareholders have been spared the pain in comparison to bondholders in the bank's rush weekend takeover by UBS. -
Meta and Within won their federal court case against the US Federal Trade Commission. -
The Department of Justice’s lawsuit to block Assa Abloy’s proposed acquisition of a Spectrum Brands -
US DOJ in Biden administration has, in certain circumstances, provided remedy recommendations and accepted remedy offers -
Korean Air Lines’ bid to take over its closest rival Asiana is the airline merger to test the European Commission -
L3Harris’ proposed acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne will likely face a smoother path with US antitrust regulators. -
Foreign investment reviews, amplified by protectionism, is creating a broader concept of national security. -
China’s semiconductor industry is grappling with the implications of stricter export controls imposed by the US -
Meta Platforms’ acceptance of a UK order to unwind its Giphy deal this week puts an end to more than two years of wrangling -
Norsk Hydro’s Alumetal deal, EU heightened vigilance about large companies snapping up smaller, innovative competitors. -
Illumina says the findings of the US administrative law judge invalidating the FTC bid to block its acquisition of Grail -
Illumina will likely eventually have to unwind its acquisition of Grail as a result of the EU merger regulator’s block on it -
EU’s Illumina-Grail merger review has been a procedural rollercoaster -
Dealmakers anxious that the UK’s tough new national-security investment screening regime would be vulnerable to overreach -
EU’s recently approved foreign subsidies instrument will test the ability of the European Commission -
EU review of Illumina’s $8 billion takeover of cancer-testing company Grail could move quickly now that Court has spoken -
Illumina may have been the first, but it likely won't be the last company caught by the EU merger regulator’s recent -
Broadcom's $61 billion move to buy VMware has seen concerns flagged to the EU competition regulator -
Planned EU rules to police foreign subsidies contain a last-gasp provision for companies that find themselves staring at a possible ban on mergers or tenders -
Chipmaker Broadcom plans a $61 billion buyout of cloud giant VMware might give observers a feeling of déjà vu -
US DOJ’s Kanter has been criticized within the antitrust bar for saying it isn’t the government's job to help companies fix illegal mergers -
UK prohibition of a Big Tech deal will be tested in court as Meta Platforms fights to get an order requiring it to unwind its purchase of Giphy quashed -
European Commission has seemed more hesitant to block mergers lately, trace that back to its 2020 court loss to CK Hutchison. -
UK competition regulator’s block of Cargotec’s merger with Konecranes has set the tone for future split from the EC -
Microsoft may take heart from the straightforward EU clearance of Amazon’s acquisition of Hollywood studio MGM -
Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are likely to tell regulators that their merger will expand access to more users -
Meta’s Kustomer deal puts EU antitrust’s 'one-stop shop' principle under strain -
Should Meta advance an appeal over the UK CMA's prohibition of its acquisition of Giphy, it faces an uphill battle in getting the decision quashed. -
Nvidia's notification of its $40 billion Arm buyout to the EU merger authority is imminent -
NAB’s plans to acquire Citigroup’s Australian consumer business could create the country’s second-largest credit card provider. -
Aon's decision was also a victory for antitrust enforcement in the tradition of recent decades. -
Acquisition-hungry companies worried at plans to tweak the UK's merger-control regime should be comforted. -
EU merger control is unlikely to become less burdensome for companies in complex cases despite their complaints. -
Nominations for the presidency and superintendence of the Brazilian competition authority mean the agency's policy management will be preserved -
EU regulators grappling with the Illumina-Grail deal have to contend with two conflicting interests.
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A French bid to create a Netflix rival will face intense scrutiny from the country’s own competition authority. -
US antitrust authorities could gain a powerful ally in Frank Kendall if former Pentagon acquisitions chief is confirmed. -
The EU’s new plan to scrutinize foreign subsidies has higher review thresholds than initially planned. -
Companies supercharged by subsidies from foreign governments such as China and Russia will face probes. -
US Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit to block Illumina’s acquisition of Grail contains ominous portents. -
Illumina’s outrage at an attempt by the European Commission to capture a non-notifiable deal is a sign of the kind of backlash that a revision might bring. -
Veolia’s hostile bid for rival Suez could be the first major test of the European Commission’s approach to environmental arguments in its merger reviews. -
Chip dealmakers from the US and elsewhere are likely to be bracing for new challenges in their global buying spree. -
Mergers and US antitrust filings are expected to remain strong through the first half of 2021, fueled by acquisitions in the wake of the global pandemic. -
A recommendation in the House Judiciary Committee’s 452-page report on competition in digital markets is sparking debate. -
Visa's UK clearance to buy Plaid showed the Competition and Markets Authority to be unafraid of evaluating and dismissing "killer acquisition" concerns. -
The LSE’s planned sale of Borsa Italiana probably won’t in itself be enough to secure EU approval for its purchase of financial data powerhouse Refinitiv. -
US graphics-chip maker Nvidia is facing strong initial headwinds in China over its planned acquisition of UK peer Arm.
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A revised merger-remedies manual doubles down on antitrust chief Makan Delrahim’s strong preference for divestitures. -
The Z Holdings and LINE merger was conditionally approved in a move that demonstrated the Japanese regulator's willingness to take a new approach. -
Microsoft’s planned purchase of TikTok won't likely face the antitrust resistance that seems to meet all Big Tech acquisitions in the EU these days. -
Google had a “state of play” meeting with EU merger case handlers yesterday to discuss its planned acquisition of fitness tracker company Fitbit. -
Facebook's purchase of the animated image company Giphy is sparking feedback to the US Federal Trade Commission, MLex has learned. -
Facebook is likely to argue that its completed acquisition of Giphy is a straightforward case of vertical integration and doesn’t give rise to competition issues. -
Facebook’s track record of strategic acquisitions lie at the heart of the Australian regulator’s decision to probe the platform’s decision to acquire Giphy. -
Sabre faces an uphill battle to get the UK antitrust regulator’s block of its Farelogix buyout quashed. -
Chinese companies acquiring control or at least 35 percent of shares in EU companies might face a new bloc-level review.
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Companies backed by significant Chinese subsidies could be subject to a new kind of EU investigation that would correct distortions & restrict behavior inside Europe's internal market.
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The call for a merger moratorium due to the novel coronavirus pandemic likely won’t become law. -
The federal judge who approved T-Mobile's plan to buy Sprint said the usual presumptions in antitrust law don't work in this case because of the specifics of the dynamic, rapidly changing mobile wireless industry. -
Amazon.com and Deliveroo have a challenge ahead to defend their stake-purchase agreement by convincing the UK's competition regulator that they don't compete with each other — a finding that would require it to diverge from its established approach. -
Illumina and Pacific Biosciences’ internal documents “shed light” on the UK competition regulator’s in-depth probe and allowed it to discern a “clear and consistent picture” of the competitive impact, the authority has said in provisional findings. -
AbbVie’s $63 million merger with Allergan is well-positioned for unconditional antitrust clearance in Brazil, MLex has learned. -
Pfizer, Celgene's Brazilian subsidiaries, others, queried about substitutes in AbbVie-Allergan dealBrazilian subsidiaries of Pfizer, Celgene, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson and UCB were asked by the national competition authority reviewing the AbbVie-Allergan deal whether there are close substitutes for medicines to treat Crohn’s disease, noninfectious uveitis and ulcerative colitis. -
Pharmaceutical industry mergers traditionally fall in the US Federal Trade Commission’s bailiwick, but the US Department of Justice over the last year has instead pushed to review some of those deals, along with other deals customarily examined by the FTC, MLex has learned. -
Ecolab and Holchem's merger block by the UK competition regulator has exposed frictions over its use of customer surveys. -
Cannabis company Curaleaf Holdings has received a second request for information from the US Department of Justice regarding its planned $875 million acquisition of GS Companies, also known as Grassroots, MLex has learned. -
Curaleaf aims to create the US’s biggest cannabis company with its $875 million GrassRoots merger. -
The UK review of Sabre’s merger with Farelogix has raised questions about whether the country’s antitrust regulator has jurisdiction for an in-depth probe of the deal, MLex has learned. -
Abbvie has withdrawn the antitrust paperwork for its $63 billion purchase of Allergan with the US Federal Trade Commission, MLex has learned. -
US aluminium producer Novelis has offered to sell a plant in Belgium to assuage EU antitrust concerns over its plan to buy rival US rolled-aluminum products maker Aleris for $2.6 billion, MLex has learned. -
US chipmaker Nvidia's notification of its planned $6.9 billion takeover of Israeli peer Mellanox was still awaiting formal acceptance by China's competition regulator, MLex has learned. -
The deal between drugmakers Pfizer and Aspen Pharmacare should be approved by the Brazilian antitrust agency, according to a federal court ruling seen by MLex. The deadline suspension the agency declared for the case until its governing body resumes activities should also be voided, the judge said.
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The UK antitrust regulator rattled investors last month when it said an Illumina-Pacific Biosciences merger could lead to higher prices and lower quality for UK customers — a conclusion that was governed by broad interpretation of their market. -
Mergers in the cannabis industry are routinely being subject to in-depth competition probes by the US Department of Justice, MLex has learned. -
Telia’s buyout of Bonnier Broadcasting is drawing close scrutiny in Brussels, where EU case handlers worry that the deal could raise prices or reduce choice for television viewers in Finland and Sweden. -
Walmart saw its plans to buy crowdsourced, on-demand delivery marketplace Cornershop MX potentially go down the drain with the Mexican competition authority's decision to block the deal because it would likely undermine companies operating in the same markets. -
Pacific National-Aurizon court defeat still vindicates regulator, Australian competition chief saysA court finding that the acquisition of the Acacia Ridge Terminal in north-eastern Australia by freight operator Pacific National would have harmed competition has vindicated an ultimately unsuccessful court action launched by the country’s competition regulator, its chief says. -
US chipmaker Nvidia's planned $6.9 billion takeover of Israeli peer Mellanox is expected to go through an ordinary merger review procedure by China's competition regulator, as opposed to a fast-track process, MLex has learned. -
European telecom executives want to know if CK Hutchison’s court challenge to an EU veto of its O2 UK buyout will make it easier to do mobile mergers. -
Vodafone Hutchison Australia’s merger with local telecommunications operator TPG Telecom has been blocked, with the country's competition regulator revealing it hasn't accepted TPG's 11th-hour decision to pull the plug on its planned network rollout. -
A technical glitch that saw a regulatory decision on a proposed multibillion-dollar telecommunications merger published before the market had closed for the day was “deeply embarrassing,” Australia’s top competition official says. -
Merging companies that want to use Canada's efficiency defense will have to offer detailed data or face a potential merger challenge, Canada's Competition Bureau chief said today. -
Carl Icahn’s fight with Conduent intensified as Michael Nevin, an Icahn representative who resigned his board seat in protest of actions taken by Conduent Chairman William Parrett, denied that that his departure was part of a premeditated plot by Icahn to overthrow the board. -
E.On's merger with Innogy has drawn criticism from rival LichtBlick, which has said the deal will create “the leading Big Data conglomerate in the German energy market,” comparing it unfavorably to tech giants such as Google and Amazon. -
Vodafone has passed up an opportunity to defend its four-country Liberty Global acquisition at a closed-door hearing in Brussels, MLex has learned. -
ThyssenKrupp and Tata Steel finally offered concessions this week in their bid to win EU approval to merge their European steel operations. But have they coughed up enough to satisfy the EU antitrust watchdog? There are some real doubts. -
Vodafone has received formal EU objections to its plan to buy a swath of Liberty Global’s businesses in Europe, MLex has learned.
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In vetoing Siemens' buyout of Alstom's rail business, the European Commission unleashed a political thunderstorm that continues to rumble across the EU. But the prohibition also offers down-to-earth lessons for executives contemplating mergers that need clearance in Brussels. -
The proposed merger of Fidelity National Information Services and Worldpay will further consolidate debit processing, a key function in the payment ecosystem. -
Merging companies seeking to determine whether they need to file their deal for EU review after a no-deal Brexit should include their UK revenues under the EU umbrella if their tieup was announced before exit day, the European Commission said today. -
This year’s proxy voting season was supposed to be a watershed for South Korean corporate governance, with 11 companies targeted for activism, versus just two in 2018. But with Elliott rejected by Hyundai Motor shareholders and KCGI, Korea’s biggest activist fund, blocked from submitting proposals at next week’s Hanjin KAL vote, it appears activism in Korea will only advance at a pace dictated by Korea’s financial establishment. -
T-Mobile’s plan to buy Sprint has spurred a serious investigation from state attorneys general who have been prepared from the start to litigate if needed, MLex has learned, posing a potential threat to the deal's closure. -
Bristol-Myers Squibb and Magellan Health last week became the latest targets of activist fund Starboard Value, joining a growing list of healthcare stocks attracting activist interest, drawn by the sector’s robust M&A activity. -
Vodafone's plan to buy Liberty Global's cable business in Germany and three other countries has drawn detailed questions from EU regulators, who are seeking information about how the deal would affect the German market, MLex has learned.
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A merger of Siemens' and Alstom’s railway businesses would have been a “bad deal for British passengers, freight companies and taxpayers,” the UK rail regulator has said following the EU block on the deal yesterday. -
Nexstar Media’s plan to buy broadcasting rival Tribune Media is expected to prompt a second request for more information from the US Department of Justice, MLex has learned. -
Siemens and Alstom’s frustrated plan to merge their railway businesses shows the steely independence of the European Commission’s competition regulators, who blocked the deal in the face of intense political pressure from France and Germany. -
Speak to most lawyers in Australia, and they’ll tell you that dealing with the country’s competition regulator is a relatively stress-free endeavor. Officials at the other end of the phone tend to be upfront, polite and predictable. -
Shipbuilders Fincantieri and Chantiers de l’Atlantique have all the hallmarks of a “European champion” in the making, but that may not help get their deal past the EU merger regulator. -
Struggling healthcare providers often view consolidation as the only means of shouldering the ever-skyrocketing cost of care. -
Do econometric modeling, do it rigorously and share your work with the companies before you, Europe's top court told the European Commission's merger-review authority today, as it confirmed that a 2013 veto of UPS's takeover of TNT Express was void. -
Jana Partners, with its decision to sell hundreds of thousands of Jack in the Box shares, is at the lower limit of the number of shares it must hold to gain representation on the company's board. -
Activist investor Jana Partners reduced its stake in Jack in the Box by almost half, according to a securities filing today. -
President Donald Trump’s choice for his next attorney general, William Barr, has a track record of high-profile advocacy both for and against major telecommunications deals based on the interests of his corporate employers. -
Siemens and Alstom, as well as their political backers in France and Germany, appear not to have convinced Margrethe Vestager that they need to club together to fend off competition from outside the EU. -
This has been a record year for activist funds in terms of campaigns launched and board seats won. But for fund performance, it’s been the worst year since 2011, leading to an accelerating outflow of investor capital. -
New EU investment-vetting rules are expected to take effect at the end of 2020 to allow enough time for national governments to update their rulebooks, MLex has learned. -
American battery manufacturer Energizer’s $2 billion purchase of Spectrum Brands’ global battery and flashlights business might encounter more regulatory trouble in Europe than it did in the United States.