Commissioner Of Competition V. Labatt: A Tempest In A Teapot?

Last April, we reported that the Competition Tribunal had dismissed an application by the Commissioner of Competition for an order under section 100 of the Competition Act to prevent the closing of Labatt's acquisition of Lakeport Brewing – see M&A Bulletin, April 9, 2007, Labatt–Lakeport Transaction: Implications of the Competition Tribunal's Dismissal of the Commissioner's Application to Prevent the Merger Closing. On January 22, 2008, the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the Commissioner's appeal of the Tribunal's decision. In doing so, the Court confirmed that the granting of section 100 orders is discretionary and it agreed with the Tribunal that the Commissioner's application in this case had failed to meet the statutory requirements for an order.