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ARTICLE · 12 FEBRUARY 2009

New Legislation Sends Mixed Signals For German Merger Control And International Transactions

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German merger control is becoming even more difficult to navigate.

GermanyAntitrust/Competition Law
Johannes Zöttl
Johannes Zöttl
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German merger control is becoming even more difficult to navigate. A new proposal in the German Parliament, which would revise the standard for determining whether a premerger filing is required in Germany, at first glance appears to signal a lack of interest in small-scale transactions. This new threshold will significantly decrease the number of international transactions that are subject to pre-closing merger control in Germany. The devil is in the details, though, as Germany's ever-aggressive Federal Cartel Office will continue to have opportunities to review proposed mergers. Further, in parallel the Parliament is considering additional reporting requirements under the investment control regulations. The following article summarized these latest proposals and outlines how these will affect companies that do business in Germany.

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