A More Flexible Approach? CMA Issues Revised Merger Remedies Guidance

At the end of what was a transformational year for UK merger control policy, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published revised guidance on its approach to merger remedies (Revised Guidance). The upshot: the CMA should take a more flexible approach to accepting merger remedies in certain cases, particularly in relation to behavioural commitments. For merging parties, this could mean more routes to obtaining UK merger control clearance, even for deals raising antitrust concerns.

The CMA's merger remedies guidance plays a key role in determining whether transactions that raise antitrust concerns can be allowed to proceed on the basis of commitments entered into by the merging parties. As such, these latest revisions are an important step in wide-ranging ongoing reforms to the UK merger control process, to implement the CMA's "4Ps" agenda. This seeks to encourage "pace, predictability, proportionality and process" across the CMA's portfolio of work.