News

04 | 03 | 2010

Autorité de la concurrence rejects complaint against Carrefour

On 4 March 2010, the French Competition Authority (Autorité de la concurrence) published a decision rejecting a complaint lodged by SEFAG, a syndicate of grocery retailers, against the Carrefour Group for abuse of economic dependence. SEFAG claimed that Carrefour Group locked the franchise... More

17 | 02 | 2010

South African Competition Tribunal finds that SAA abused its dominance in complaint brought by Comair

On 17 February 2010 the South African Competition Tribunal ruled that South African Airways (SAA) had abused its dominant position in the South African airline market during the period 2001 to 2005. The anti-competitive conduct consisted of the offer of exclusionary incentive schemes to domestic ... More

10 | 02 | 2010

OFT clears Ambassador/Live Nation theatre deal

On 10 February 2010, the OFT gave unconditional clearance to the acquisition by Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) of the theatres formerly owned by Live Nation (LN). ATG and LN owned large portfolios of theatres in the UK, with venues in 22 locations including London's West End.

A number of ... More

26 | 01 | 2010

French Competition Authority clears acquisition of TMC and NT1 by TF1

On 26 January 2010, the French Competition Authority (FCA) conditionally cleared the acquisition by TF1, the main traditional French broadcasting channel, of full control over TMC and NT1, two digital terrestrial channels. After a Phase II investigation, the FCA concluded that without remedies, t... More

19 | 01 | 2010

The French Appeal Court slashes fines in the steel wholesaling cartel

In its ruling of January 19 2010, the Cour d'Appel de Paris reduced the fines imposed by the Conseil de la Concurrence in December 2008 from a total of €575.33M to €72.325M. While endorsing the Conseil's conclusions on the existence and duration of the infringement, the Court determine... More

15 | 01 | 2010

French Competition Authority appoints CRA`s Academic Associate Thibaud Vergé as Chief Economist

The Autorité de la concurrence (French Competition Authority) has announced today the appointment of Thibaud Vergé as its Chief Economist with effect from 1st February.

Thibaud Vergé is a research fellow at the Laboratoire d'Economie Industrielle of CREST, the economic... More

09 | 12 | 2009

7th Annual Competition Conference in Brussels

CRA held its 7th annual conference on Economic Developments in European Competition Policy in Brussels on 9 December. Over 400 participants attended the event, which was opened by Damien Neven, Chief Economist at DG Competition.

The conference covered a variety of topics in European compet... More

18 | 11 | 2009

European Commission approves restructuring plan of Lloyds Banking Group

On 18 November 2009, the European Commission approved the restructuring plan of Lloyds Banking Group (LBG). The plan addressed the financial support package of £17bn received in October 2008 (which effectively gave the state a 43.5% stake in LBG) and additional state aid measures. The Comm... More

29 | 09 | 2009

Panasonic and Sanyo merger cleared at Phase I

On 29 September 2009 the European Commission cleared the merger between Panasonic and Sanyo subject to remedies to resolve horizontal overlaps in the production of certain portable batteries. The parties' commitments consist of the divestment of a plant that produces cylindrical lithium and rech... More

03 | 09 | 2009

Autorité de la Concurrence rejects interim measures against Janssen-Cilag

On 3 September 2009, the Autorité de la Concurrence (the French competition authority) published a decision rejecting the request of interim measures by the generic pharmaceuticals firm Ratiopharm against Janssen-Cilag, an originator pharmaceuticals company. The Authority decided that the ... More