Issues to consider when divesting business in the context of a conditional clearance case

In November 2009, the Ministry of Commerce of China ("MOFCOM") issued the decision to clear the Panasonic/Sanyo deal with conditions, one of which is for Panasonic to divest its nickel-hydride car batteries business in Japan.  On February 9, 2011, the sale was sealed with Panasonic selling this business to Hunan Corun New Energy Co., Ltd. for about RMB 40 million.

Similarly in 2009, the Pfizer/Wyeth deal and the Mitsubishi Rayon/Lucite deal were also cleared by MOFCOM with such conditions that certain business or assets shall be divested.  Currently (and since the enactment of the Anti-Monopoly Law in 2008), three of the six merger filings which were conditionally approved by MOFCOM involve merger remedies in the form of business divestiture.