In the News
Commission blocks proposed acquisition of TNT Express by UPS
The European Commission has prohibited under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of TNT Express by UPS. The Commission found that the take-over would have restricted competition in 15 Member States in relation to the express delivery of small packages to another European country. In these Member States, the acquisition would have reduced the number of significant players to only 2 or 3, often leaving DHL as the only alternative to UPS. During the investigation, UPS offered to divest TNT's subsidiaries in the 15 countries and allow the buyer to access its intra-European air network for five years. The Commission carried out an in-depth assessment on the proposals, including a market test where customers and other interested parties were consulted. However, the Commission concluded that the proposed remedies were inadequate to address the competition concerns. Click here.
Commission sends Statement of Objections to Johnson & Johnson and Novartis on delayed entry of generic pain-killer
The European Commission has sent a Statement of Objections to the pharmaceutical companies Johnson & Johnson and Novartis in relation to an agreement concluded between their respective Dutch subsidiaries on fentanyl, a strong pain-killer. The Commission has taken the preliminary view that the agreement delayed the market entry of a cheaper generic medicine in the Netherlands, in breach of Article 101. The two subsidiaries concluded a co-promotion agreement in July 2005 which involved monthly payments from one party to the other for as long as no generic product was launched in the Dutch market. Consequently, Sandoz abstained from entering the market with generic fentanyl patches for the duration of the agreement from July 2005 until December 2006. The Commission considers that this may have delayed the entry of a cheaper generic medicine for seventeen months and kept prices for fentanyl in the Netherlands artificially high. Click here.
EU
Articles 101 and 102
The European Commission has closed an Article 101 investigation into two cooperation schemes involving ship owners European Minibulk eG and Container Feeder eG. The Commission was concerned that a compensation system set up for the owners laying-up their vessels (i.e. keeping them idle) would give them an incentive to withdraw capacity from the market. The Commission was also concerned that an information exchange scheme could have enabled the coordination of rates between them. Following discussions with the Commission, the parties agreed to abandon these two aspects of their cooperation before they had been implemented. As a result, the Commission has decided to close the case. Click here
UK
Competition Commission
- The Competition Commission is inviting evidence on whether to vary or remove the BBC's undertakings which restrict the BBC's ability to promote magazines which it also publishes. The undertakings followed a 1992 report by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, which found that the BBC's use of free airtime to promote its magazines was against the public interest. Since then the BBC has sold the majority of its magazines business. The Commission has now received advice from the Office of Fair Trading that the change in ownership of the BBC's magazine business constitutes a change of circumstances which means that the undertakings may no longer be appropriate. The OFT has recommended that the BBC should be released from the undertakings, or that they should be varied or superseded. Click here.
Office of Fair Trading
- The OFT has launched a formal investigation into a suspected abuse of a dominant position by a company engaged in the provision of business continuity services. Click here.
- The OFT has issued its report into the UK road fuel sector, concluding that rises in pump prices for petrol and diesel over the last 10 years have been caused largely by higher crude oil prices and increases in tax and duty, and not a lack of competition. Click here.
- The OFT is consulting on proposed divestment undertakings in relation to the completed acquisition by Nakano UK Holding Limited of the vinegar and pickles in vinegar businesses of Premier Foods Group Limited. Click here.
Monitor
- The order which brings into force a number of provisions of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, including the provisions which give Monitor concurrent competition powers in relation to the provision of health care services in England, has been published. The order will take effect from 1 April 2013. Click here.
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