Microsoft’s $70 billion deal for Activision will likely be subject to significant antitrust scrutiny in both sides of the Atlantic and it may force regulators to define new relevant market for the video game industry.
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Visa lags behind its main rivals in the European market for direct payments, with open-banking platform Tink potentially unlocking access to a significant market opportunity. However, the deal will undergo significant antitrust scrutiny in the EU and the U.K.
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The combination between AON and Willis Tower Watson hangs in the balance as antitrust concerns over large multi-national customers may be difficult to address with divestitures. With the U.S., EU, Australia and New Zealand raising similar concerns, the key for the approval may lie on a narrow market definition. The companies may need to beef up the divestment plan to appease regulators.
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The combination of AerCap and GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) will create an aircraft leasing worldwide leader that would likely obtain all the necessary antitrust approvals despite the size of the companies. The merger isn’t likely to raise significant antitrust concerns, but even if it does, remedies may appease regulators. In this article we tell you why this market leader won’t raise antitrust concerns.
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The companies may delay until September the formal filing of the deal in Europe. While this may look like an unnecessary delay, this extra time could allow EU regulators to review the deal and grant an approval without opening an in-depth merger review, in our view. The $40 billion deal will combine Nvidia’s graphic and data center chips with Arm’s IP licensing portfolio to create a microchip company with enhanced AI and IoT capabilities. The deal is expected to raise antitrust concerns in US, Europe and China.
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Three companies are competing to lead the EU PayTech sector, Adyen, Worldline and Nexi. While the former will likely rely on organic growth, the latter still seek more M&A opportunities. In this article, we tell you how these different strategies may play out.
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The failed attempt by Visa to buy Plaid may indicate a bigger problem for card networks and a few fintech companies, they are growing too large to be ignored by regulators and areas such account-to-account payments and merchant acquiring servicies may enter in antitrust scrutiny territory. In this article we tell you which PayTech companies may be in a better position to continue growing through M&A.
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A potential combination between Unicredit and Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) won’t likely undergo significant antitrust scrutiny. Yet, certain actions by the Italian government may be considered State aid and they may complicate any deal. In this article we explain what these issues are and how likely is that the deal gets through.
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Peugeot’s proposed remedy to deepen its current agreement with Toyota to produce more cars for the Japanese automaker may help to appease EU regulators and bring an approval closer. Yet, in order to avoid divestitures, the automakers may have to beef up the remedy plan.
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Recent moves from Intesa San Paolo and La Caixa are encouraging lenders across Europe to position themselves in the M&A chessboard. Most of the European banks need to cut costs as a decade-long slump of revenue is set to continue. In this new wave of consolidation one thing is clear, if you are not at the table, you are on the menu.
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