In the final episode of the series we speak with Kay Jebelli, Competition & Regulatory Counsel to the Computer & Communications Industry Association in Brussels, to discuss how the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) uses its powers to address concerns with so-called “killer acquisitions”, in particular in the technology sector.

Big tech is a hot topic in the antitrust world, not least for the CMA, which has set up its own digital markets unit, its only sector-specialist division.

With big tech, the wide-reaching nature of the CMA’s share of supply test and merger intelligence function – which we have discussed in previous episodes - come into their own and allow the authority to intervene in tech mergers around the world because of their potential effects on the UK market. Kay, a veteran of such cases on the side of the tech companies, discusses with Chloe Cumber the CMA’s approach, and how merging parties have reacted.  

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In this episode, partner and head of the UK competition team, Sarah Smith, speaks with Paul Reeve from economists RBB about what happens when you make a merger notification to the CMA.

Paul and Sarah talk through a hypothetical transaction in the retail sector in order to demonstrate how the CMA look at what products compete with each other, the area in which they compete and how a merger’s effect on competition is assessed.

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Richard Jenkinson speaks to Frankfurt based competition partner, Semin O, to compare the UK system with the German system of merger control. The German system is a useful basis for comparison given that it is one which listeners are more likely to find familiar.

Not only is it more typical of merger control systems worldwide, but also the relatively low thresholds mean that there are nearly 20 times more merger filings made in Germany each year than in the UK. There are also many ways in which the two systems are alike.

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