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Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME), China’s largest online music and audio entertainment platform, plans to submit its proposed $2.4 billion acquisition of audio content platform Ximalaya to the country’s antitrust authority for review, sources familiar with the matter said.
Representatives for Mars and Kellanova (K) are set to meet with European Commission officials this week for a critical discussion that could help the enforcer decide whether to clear the companies’ $36 billion proposed merger in phase 1 or push it to an in-depth investigation, according...
Prospects are brightening for UnitedHealth Group’s proposed takeover of Amedisys as DOJ and the parties’ representatives engage in serious negotiations to settle the department’s suit to block the $3.3 billion deal, sources familiar with the matter...
The European Commission should force Visa (V) and Mastercard (M) to make banks, card terminal providers and retailers pay their fair share of fees to break the stronghold of the two giant credit card...
Omnicom’s proposed $13.3 billion acquisition of Interpublic Group presents the FTC with an unusually complicated set of market definition and concentration questions given the unique market dynamics inherent to advertising agency competition, industry sources...
Brussels hungry for phase 2 reviews. With just one in-depth merger investigation opened so far this year, the European Commission is signaling a renewed appetite for phase 2 investigations, according to sources familiar with the commission’s thinking. “The bar is very low” to...
New fees on Chinese ships proposed by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) are likely to raise freight prices but are unlikely to generate significant revenue as companies will have multiple strategies available to avoid the fees, according to experts and industry members. ...
If DOJ staff reviewing Getty Images’ (GETY) proposed $3.7 billion merger with Shutterstock (SSTK) want a general idea of how closely the two photo agencies compete, they need look no further than their base prices on stock...
Faro Technologies in a securities filing Friday disclosed that it first engaged an investment bank to explore a sale in January—a timeline that could bolster arguments that its pending laser projector market exit isn’t an attempt to avoid U.S. antitrust scrutiny of its proposed $920...
The European Commission plans to boost its digital influence as part of a broader push to sharpen its competitiveness and compete against China and the U.S., according to a confidential draft strategy seen by The Capitol Forum. The draft, and its annex, outline a sweeping plan… The...
Industrial giant Ametek’s proposed $920 million acquisition of Faro Technologies would unite two companies whose 3D laser projectors have competed closely over the past decade for use in a host of complex industrial applications, industry sources told The Capitol...
Tariffs on foreign-produced films would violate a WTO moratorium on customs duties for digital services, known as the “e-Commerce Moratorium,” said Greg Shaffer, a professor of International Law at Georgetown University Law Center. While “e-Commerce” can sometimes refer to items...
The European Union must accelerate consolidation in its defense and telecommunications sectors to stay globally competitive and respond to rising geopolitical and economic pressures, Enrico Letta, author of a landmark report on the EU single market and former Italian prime minister...
The Biden Administration’s approach to trade policy included a rethink of Big Tech’s role in establishing U.S. trade policy priorities. In contrast, the Trump administration, despite continuing major antitrust litigation against Big Tech, has been vocal in its criticism of European...
The European Commission is taking seriously the concerns of retailers about the bargaining power of Mars following its proposed $36 billion acquisition of Kellanova (K), as the agency kicks off its phase 1 investigation of the transaction, sources close to the matter told The Capitol...
SAMR fines four pharmaceutical suppliers 354 million yuan for price-fixing. The Tianjin branch of China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) announced on May 9 that it had levied a total of 354 million yuan ($49 million) in penalties on four pharmaceutical suppliers for...
The European Commission is preparing the imminent market testing of Microsoft’s (MSFT) proposed remedies aimed at leveling the playing field between its Teams app and other chat tools for users of its workplace products, according to two sources familiar with the...
Keysight Technologies’ 1.16 billion pound ($1.5 billion) bid for testing and measuring equipment provider Spirent is advancing toward antitrust clearance in the U.S., sources familiar with the matter...
The prospect has grown that two high-profile semiconductors transactions—Synopsys’s proposed acquisition of Ansys and Keysight Technologies’ pending purchase of Spirent Communications—will be cleared by China’s antitrust authority after the Asian country and the U.S. over the...
The European Commission is preparing formal charges against delivery food companies Glovo and Delivery Hero (DHER: DE) for allegedly agreeing not to poach each other’s workers, according to two sources with intimate knowledge of the matter. The rest of this article is currently locked...
The European Commission’s investigation of Mars’ proposed $35.9 billion takeover of Kellanova (K) is focusing on whether the deal would give the U.S. snack food acquirer increased bargaining leverage with European retailers that stock Kellanova’s brands portfolio, including...
Foreign-owned firms that are U.S. government contractors such as Chinese tech multinational Lenovo Group (HKEX: 0992), NTT Data Group (TSE: 9613) and Thales (ENX: HO) are likely to face heightened scrutiny under new Department of Defense (DOD) regulations. This regulatory framework will...
The European Commission is deepening a preliminary probe into whether Visa (V) and Mastercard’s (MA) scheme and processing fees unfairly harm competition in the card payments market. Officials are looking at how the two dominant card networks set fees paid by acquirers such as Elavon...
Throughout the 2024 presidential campaign and first few months in office, President Donald Trump and his cabinet touted their ability to protect workers and small business. No longer is the priority to champion big business, they said. Trump’s policies would instead boost American...
Throughout the 2024 presidential campaign and first few months in office, President Donald Trump and his cabinet touted their ability to protect workers and small business. No longer is the priority to champion big business, they said. Trump’s policies would instead boost American...
Shanghai display advertising giant Focus Media Group’s proposed $1.3 billion takeover of rival Xinchao Media Group, which would expand the buyer’s Chinese empire for ads posted in elevators, will face close scrutiny from China’s antitrust authority, legal practitioners and industry...
A provision in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a free trade agreement negotiated by the first Trump administration, could enable Chinese plastics manufacturers to reduce their tariff burden, according to lawyers, supply chain experts, and an industry executive....
The European Commission is considering whether it should reinsert a safe harbour provision in its upcoming exclusionary abuse guidelines that would protect the conduct of companies under a certain market share, sources familiar with the matter told The Capitol...
India’s antitrust regulator is set to greenlight advertising behemoth Omnicom’s (OMC) proposed $13 billion acquisition of rival Interpublic Group (IPG) in the coming weeks, according to sources familiar with the matter. The deal, filed with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on...
U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts, who’s presiding over DOJ’s challenge to Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s proposed Juniper Networks buyout, has had little experience with antitrust cases since he reached the federal bench in 2023 and in his prior position as a public-interest...
Thierry Breton, the former commissioner in charge of enforcing the EU’s landmark digital rules, said multi-million euro fines imposed on Apple (AAPL) and Meta (META) earlier this week were regrettable, emphasizing that financial penalties aren’t the aim of the bloc’s Digital Markets...
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM) is poised to leverage its microchip manufacturing dominance to box competitors out of the increasingly important advanced packaging market, semiconductor industry participants told The Capitol Forum. TSMC has an effective monopoly in the...
After a wait of more than four years, the trial of the FTC’s antitrust case against Meta begins today, pitting an enforcer bent on reining in Big Tech against a company defending past acquisitions that arguably hold the key to its...
Companies that are dependent on ad spend may see revenue drops as advertising budgets shrink due to President Trump’s tariffs, an escalating trade war with China, and lingering market uncertainty, a Capitol Forum investigation has...
The European Commission is poised to use its only in-depth foreign subsidies case as a blueprint as it weighs potential concessions from UAE oil giant ADNOC, ahead of a €14.7 billion deal filing expected as early as this...
Trade war market turmoil may doom efforts to sell off government-sponsored entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as deep-pocketed private investors feel the effect of the market rout and political support for further disruption to the mortgage market...
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson and DOJ antitrust chief Gail Slater today indicated they would take a less aggressive approach to merger enforcement than their Biden administration predecessors and be more willing to entertain remedies. “Healthy pro-competitive M&A that allows American...
The Trump administration is unlikely to sign off on any restructured deal between U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) and Japan’s Nippon Steel (Tokyo: 5401) until an activist hedge fund’s high-stakes play to replace the American company’s leadership and board is resolved, a Capitol Forum analysis...
DOJ has refocused its review of Capital One’s (COF) proposed takeover of Discover Financial (DFS) on how the $35.3 billion deal could harm consumers with no credit history after determining it wouldn’t have a strong enough court case to block the transaction based on staff’s...
If Herc Holdings (HRI) completes its proposed $5.3 billion acquisition of rival H&E Equipment Services (HEES), construction companies around the country should still have plenty of viable options for renting heavy equipment, according to industry sources and a Capitol Forum...
DOJ staff has determined that Capital One’s (COF) proposed $35.3 billion acquisition of Discover Financial (DFS) would harm competition in the subprime sector, sources familiar with the matter...
The Asia Antitrust Agenda is a biweekly column showcasing key regulatory developments in the region. This week, The Capitol Forum looks at comments from head of SAMR Luo Wen on plans to increase oversight of digital platforms this year, guidance published by the Australian Competition and...
Labor Thursday is a weekly overview of competition and labor market issues and includes our analysis of the timing and priorities of the key agencies overseeing enforcement and rulemaking, including the Federal Trade Commission, Justice Department, and National Labor Relations Board. This...
The European Commission is set to order Apple to open up its iOS system or risk hefty penalties as high as 10% of its global turnover, two people with direct knowledge of the cases told The Capitol...
This is the inaugural edition of The Asia Antitrust Agenda, a biweekly column showcasing key regulatory developments in the region. KFTC juggles platform regulations, potential U.S. trade conflict. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) will closely engage with the U.S. government over...
Some European Union member states are considering whether to urge the European Commission to invoke a powerful new trade tool in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s reinstatement this month of 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, sources familiar with the matter said. The...
The European Commission is signaling reluctance to launch a formal investigation of Broadcom’s (AVGO) contentious pricing and contract changes for its software unit VMware, prompting concerns among industry groups that geopolitical considerations are influencing enforcement...
Johnson & Johnson’s proposed $14.6 billion acquisition of Intra-Cellular Therapies is poised to draw FTC questions over whether the tie-up might affect competition in markets for drugs used to treat major depressive disorder (MDD), according to a Capitol Forum...
DOJ staff attorneys are asking media industry players if Disney’s (DIS) plan to combine its Hulu + Live TV business with rival sports streaming service Fubo (FUBO) would lead to the entertainment giant raising pay-TV distributors’ costs for programming such as ESPN, sources familiar...
A multi-state coalition including New York and California is considering an antitrust suit to block Capital One’s (COF) proposed $35.3 billion acquisition of Discover Financial (DFS), sources familiar with the matter said. Enforcers at both the federal and state levels are wrapping up...
After they agreed to merge in July, Skydance Media and Paramount Global (PARA) told regulators that Larry Ellison, the Oracle (ORCL) chairman and conservative political megadonor, would lead the combined...
