Even nowadays, some hold the surprising opinion that notifying transactions to the competition authority is just a formality.

The European Commission recently imposed a significant fine of EUR 432 million on the company Illumina for implementing their proposed merger, or more precisely, for exercising a decisive influence over the company GRAIL, before obtaining prior approval from the European Commission. In fact, the European Commission suspended the ongoing transaction to formally investigate its possible negative impact on competition on the relevant market.

Though the European Commission's investigation or decision-making processes may be lengthy, it really does not pay off to complete a transaction before getting it formally approved.

National competition authorities have the same power, and, therefore, it is always worth checking whether the transaction is subject to an obligatory notification.  

Author: Vladěna Svobodová

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