In a post last week, we shared details of the 2023 edition of Getting the Deal Through: Merger Control, which covers the basic principles of merger regulation in 62 jurisdictions worldwide and on which Freshfields has worked in partnership with Law Business Research for 27 years. In this blog, we draw your attention to our opening chapter which presents an overview of key global developments that suggest a continued gearing up of the merger control landscape during 2023.
Over the past year, we have heard a growing number of calls from around the world for competition authorities to be bolder and more creative in how they enforce merger control. A broad consensus has emerged among enforcers that now is the time to apply greater scrutiny in merger review and to strengthen enforcement through additional tools.
Authorities have voiced a prevailing sentiment that carrying out M&A activity should be more challenging than it has been in the past and, accordingly, that investigation should be more comprehensive, and standards of review should be stricter. The perceived need to strengthen enforcement in the digital space has been a key area of focus (including with respect to ecosystem theories of harm), although many of those same reforming impulses have impacted merger control in other industries too.
Despite this increased attention to merger control, we see transactions of all sizes and across all industries continue to get done with the right planning.
In ‘Merger control moves up a gear’ we explore these global trends in more detail, with particular focus on insights contributed by Freshfields lawyers from across Europe and the US. You can read it here.
To request a copy of the 2023 edition of Getting the Deal Through: Merger Control, which covers the main principles of merger regulation in 62 jurisdictions worldwide, please get in touch with Anna Vaes.
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