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ARTICLE · 05 FEBRUARY 2025

EU Merger Control: What You Need To Know From 2024 To Navigate 2025

WilmerHale
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This client alert offers a comprehensive overview of European merger control throughout 2024. Covering the key developments from 2024 that companies contemplating M&A transactions...

European UnionAntitrust/Competition Law
Cormac O'Daly
Cormac O'Daly
Virginia Del Pozo
Virginia Del Pozo
Su Simşek
Su Simşek
Anastasiia Zeleniuk
Anastasiia Zeleniuk
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This client alert offers a comprehensive overview of European merger control throughout 2024. Covering the key developments from 2024 that companies contemplating M&A transactions should be aware of if these will impact the EU, it also provides some insights into what can be expected in this field in 2025. Key highlights from 2024 include:

  • the ECJ's far-reaching judgment in Illumina/GRAIL limiting the EC's merger review powers and the EU and Member States' reactions to this seminal judgment;
  • the EC's revised Market Definition Notice; and
  • the appointment of Teresa Ribera Rodríguez as the EU's Competition Commissioner succeeding Margrethe Vestager.

In total, 392 deals were notified to the EC, an increase in the number notified in 2023 (356). Most 2024 clearances (390) were unconditional, with 351 of these under the simplified procedure, the highest number ever. Conditional approvals (eight) were at a 10-year low. 2024 also marked an increase in

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