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ARTICLE · 04 MARCH 2025

Stormy Skies For Tech Deals As Antitrust Scrutiny Intensifies

A&O Shearman
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Tech sector deals are seeing rising mortality rates. AI partnerships are moving up the authorities' agenda for scrutiny and enforcement. Overall, however, antitrust intervention in 2024 once again focused on transport.

United StatesAntitrust/Competition Law
Dominic Long
Dominic Long
Peter McDonald
Peter McDonald
Francesca Miotto
Francesca Miotto
Louise Tolley
Louise Tolley
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Tech sector deals are seeing rising mortality rates. AI partnerships are moving up the authorities' agenda for scrutiny and enforcement. Overall, however, antitrust intervention in 2024 once again focused on transport, energy and life sciences M&A, as well as telecoms consolidation.

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More digital/tech deals frustrated

The level of antitrust intervention in tech M&A (9%) last year remained comparatively lower than the proportion of global M&A accounted for by tech deals (21%).

But tech and digital deals continued to face acute antitrust scrutiny. Looking only at mergers frustrated (i.e., prohibited or abandoned) due to antitrust concerns, over a fifth were tech sector transactions, up from 16% in 2023.

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