Competition in the market for corporate control

An Australian bid-rigging case shows that competition rules can apply to corporate finance

Generally, the concerns of competition authorities relate to the supply of goods and services. It is rare that the "market" for corporate control – i.e. the acquisition and sale of companies, shareholdings and businesses – is itself regarded as a matter for applying competition or antitrust rules. An EU Court of Justice case from the mid-1980s, before merger control was introduced as part of EU competition law, concluded that the EU prohibition on anti-competitive agreements could not easily be applied to the acquisition by the cigarette supplier Philip Morris of a shareholder in its competitor Rothmans: