The UK has taken the lead in what is now a global trend for increased anti-competitive review, a new summary report from White & Case shows. This trend increases the risk that market-dominant companies—including nonlisted or SME enterprises—may need to exclude their most synergistic buyer(s) when considering market value.
White & Case analyses activity from the 58 most active merger control jurisdictions globally (out of the 135 countries that have now enacted mandates for their competition authorities to review potentially anti-competitive transactions). Their new White & Case Global Antitrust Merger StatPak (WAMS) “is the first tool of its kind to serve as a real-time clearinghouse for global merger notification data.”
The UK Competition and Markets Authority have reviewed 33 transactions thus far in 2021 (through 30 November), a rate that keeps them on par with 2020. Additionally, the UK enacted further national security review schemes for any cross-border transaction last fall.