Mergers & Acquisitions Mergers & Acquisitions

Tech, pharma, biotech killer acquisitions prompted expanded powers, EU merger chief says

By Nicholas Hirst and Natalie McNelis
  • 26 Mar 2021 13:20
  • 07 Apr 2021 10:43
Technology, pharmaceutical and biotech companies' acquisitions of tiny but innovative challengers have created "unease" at the EU's merger regulator, the bloc's competition boss said today as she outlined an expansion to the EU's powers to review deals.
"We have an increasing unease with the kind of transaction where you have

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Nicholas Hirst

Chief Correspondent


Nicholas covers EU merger review and antitrust investigations for Mlex in Brussels. He previously wrote about EU affairs for Politico Europe, European Voice and PaRR. After earning an LLM in European law from the College of Europe in Bruges, he spent a year working in the competition practice of a leading competition law firm in Brussels 2009-10. He graduated in modern European languages from Oxford University in 2006.

Natalie McNelis

Senior Correspondent


Natalie McNelis covers mergers for MLex in Brussels. Before joining MLex in 2017, she spent 20 years as an international trade and competition lawyer in law firms including Stibbe and WilmerHale. Natalie has a BA in English from Mount Holyoke College, a JD from Harvard Law School and an LLM in EU law from KU Leuven. She is admitted to the bar in New York.

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