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ARTICLE · 29 SEPTEMBER 2010

OFT and CC Publish Joint UK Merger Assessment Guidelines

SJ Berwin LLP
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On 16 September 2010, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Competition Commission (CC) (together the "Authorities") published the final version of their new joint merger assessment guidelines (the "Guidelines") which will in principle, be applied in their decisions with immediate effect.

United KingdomAntitrust/Competition Law
SJ Berwin'S EU & Competition Team
SJ Berwin'S EU & Competition Team

On 16 September 2010, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Competition Commission (CC) (together the "Authorities") published the final version of their new joint merger assessment guidelines (the "Guidelines") which will in principle, be applied in their decisions with immediate effect. 

Work on the Guidelines began in 2008, with a first draft published and commented upon in mid-2009.  A substantially revised second draft was published in April 2010, followed by a further consultation period that closed at the end of May this year.  The new Guidelines, which have been developed by working closely with the European Commission and US competition authorities, incorporate and supplement separate publications previously issued by each authority and formalise the approaches of the Authorities that have been emerging in their recent decisions.

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