Focus Antitrust - 26 July 2017

In The News

Competition Appeal Tribunal rejects application for collective proceedings order in Mastercard consumer case

The Competition Appeal Tribunal has rejected an application for an opt-out collective proceedings order in relation to private action competition law claims being brought on behalf of consumers against Mastercard. The claims relate to Mastercard's setting of a multilateral interchange fee in the UK. The Tribunal considered that the claims are not eligible for inclusion in collective proceedings. Click here.

Secretary of State provides update on Fox/Sky merger

The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has made a statement providing an update in relation to her public interest consideration of the Fox/Sky merger. She had previously indicated that she is minded to make a public interest reference to the CMA on media plurality grounds and invited representations. Although she is not yet in a position to make her final decision on whether to make a reference, she has confirmed that she is still minded to do so. Click here.

EU

Mergers

• The European Commission has opened an in-depth phase 2 investigation to assess the proposed takeover of Haldex by Knorr-Bremse. The Commission has concerns that the deal may reduce competition for brake systems and related components for commercial vehicles in Europe. Click here.

UK

CMA

• The CMA has announced that it considers that there are reasonable grounds for believing that undertakings in lieu offered by FirstGroup and its joint venture partner MTR in relation to the award of the South Western franchise might be acceptable to remedy concerns on the London-Exeter route. The parties have offered to cap unregulated fares between London and Exeter on both South Western and GWR services by linking these to prices on a number of other comparable routes. They have also proposed to maintain the availability of cheaper advance fares on both services – again by comparing with similar routes. Click here.

This article was written by Paul Stone. For more information, please contact Paul on +44(0)20 7203 5110 or at paul.stone@crsblaw.com.