August 8, 2018
Antitrust: EU Lowers the Boom on “Gun-Jumping”
This Davis Polk memo discusses the whopping €124.5 million fine that the European Commission imposed on Altice for implementing its acquisition of PT Portugal without receiving required antitrust clearance. The memo says that the fine – which is the largest ever imposed – was meant to send a message:
The EC is clearly determined to impose high-value fines where a company has deliberately or negligently failed to notify a transaction reviewable under the EU Merger Regulation or has implemented a transaction before it has been cleared. Commissioner Vestager noted that companies that “implement mergers before notification or clearance undermine the effectiveness of our merger control system” and that the level of fine imposed in the Altice case “reflects the seriousness of the infringement and should deter other firms from breaking EU merger control rules.”
– John Jenkins