CRA is a proud sponsor of the event.
Mikael Hervé is a speaker during the session on “Digital Mergers: Rethinking the Tools?”
On 8 May 2025, the European Commission launched its first major review of the EU Merger Guidelines in over 20 years, aiming to adapt control to digitalization, innovation, resilience, and sustainability, with final adoption expected by 2027 in line with the Draghi Report. A key novelty is the focus on minority shareholdings and how DMA acquisition reporting for gatekeepers may interact with EU merger rules to capture smaller but strategic deals. The review also highlights the growing phenomenon of acqui-hires such as in the case of Microsoft/Inflection—transactions where dominant players acquire startups primarily for their talent rather than their products—raising questions about how such deals should be assessed under merger control rules. At the same time, the UK’s DMCC expands the CMA’s oversight of digital transactions, with Apple and Google under investigation. This panel will assess whether Europe and the UK are converging on stricter merger rules for hyperscalers, how acqui-hires fit into this evolving framework, and what that means for innovation, investment, and competition.
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