The European Commission has approved sugar producer Südzucker’s acquisition of control over UK-based sugar trader ED&F Man following a Phase II investigation. The key area of overlap related to the Italian sugar market and in order to gain merger approval the parties agreed to divest ED&F Man’s stake in a sugar refinery in Brindisi in the south of Italy. The divestment also involved transferring to the buyer of the stake the long-term contracts guaranteeing the supply of raw cane sugar to the refinery.
The politician and the judge: Implications for competition policy
Drawing on the historical evolution of antitrust policy, the authors argue that some increase in politicisation is likely an inevitable result of the expansion...