Law: Competition Act 1998 (UK)

CMA set to prioritise labour market enforcement

The UK’s antitrust enforcer has said it plans to identify and “clamp down” on illegal conduct in labour markets, a month after releasing guidance on no-poach agreements.

24 March 2023

UK dental merger avoids in-depth look after offering divestments

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has approved a merger that is set to create the country’s largest privately focused dental group, subject to the divestment of 15 practices to address its concerns in local markets.

24 March 2023

CMA drops probe into Meta, combines Google online ad cases

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has ended its investigation into Meta over an online advertising agreement with Google, although it will continue to probe the latter’s involvement in the same pact three months after the EU dropped the case entirely.

10 March 2023

Microsoft urges CMA to back down from divestment ultimatum in Activision Blizzard deal

Microsoft has argued that behavioural remedies would preserve the “substantial” benefits arising from its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, as the company pushes back against the UK antitrust enforcer’s provisional Phase II findings.

09 March 2023

UK financial services regulator flags competition concerns in trade data market

A probe by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has warned that the domestic market for trade data used by banks and other investors is overly concentrated to the detriment of competition and consumers.

03 March 2023

Uncertainty will not thwart merger enforcement in dynamic markets, CMA head says

The inherent unpredictability of merger control assessments in digital markets means agencies will sometimes get cases wrong, but enforcers have to be comfortable working in that framework, the head of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has said.

02 March 2023

Pub chains challenge Scottish law for overstepping UK government’s competition remit

An Edinburgh court has issued an interim order stalling new Scottish legislation governing pub landlord-tenant relationships so an appeal can be heard that claims the rules intersect with the UK competition act and therefore fall outside of the local parliament’s competency.

02 March 2023

CMA approves Korean Air/Asiana Airlines with slot divestments

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has cleared Korean Air’s €1.31 billion acquisition of a majority stake in Asiana Airlines without a Phase II investigation, after the buyer promised to divest slots and enter into a cooperative partnership agreement with Virgin Atlantic.

01 March 2023

In-flight wifi merger wins provisional UK approval

The UK’s antitrust watchdog plans to clear Viasat’s $7.3 billion acquisition of Inmarsat, concluding no remedies are needed as significant competition will emerge from a rapidly growing market that has already changed significantly during the course of its in-depth probe.

01 March 2023

CAT orders ro-ro defendants to disclose all confidential docs from EU probe

The UK’s Competition Tribunal has ordered defendants in a roll-on, roll-off class action claim to handover confidential documents from the European Commission’s ro-ro shipping cartel probe, even if they are deemed irrelevant.

23 February 2023

Unlock unlimited access to all Global Competition Review content