The European Commission’s (EC’s) recently-published study of merger remedies given between 1996 and 2000 makes interesting reading for any acquisitive company that may be required to give merger remedies or is considering purchasing a divested business. It serves to highlight potential issues that can arise both during and following the implementation of remedies and gives pointers on how these can be overcome. The EC is currently taking views from interested parties.
Since 1990, less than 10% of merger decisions made by the EC have been conditional clearances under which the parties have been required to give merger remedies to secure merger approval. The EC’s study looked at a sample of 40 such cases, in which a total of 96 remedies were given. The vast majority of these involved either the divestiture of a business or operation or exiting from a joint venture.
