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GLOSSARY

Substantial Lessening of Competition definition

Published by a LexisNexis Competition expert

What does Substantial Lessening of Competition mean?

UK merger control aims to identify and prevent mergers that would lead to a substantial lessening of competition; this is therefore the substantive test for assessing the legality of mergers in the UK.

The UK Office of Fair Trading is under a legal duty to refer mergers to the UK Competition Commission where there is a relevant merger situation that has or might be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within a UK market for goods or services. This substantive test also forms the basis for the determination by the UK Competition Commission of whether to prohibit a merger or not. Mergers may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition when it is expected to weaken rivalry to such an extent that customers would be harmed, for example because of reduced product choice, reduced output or innovation or because price rises could be profitably maintained.

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Eurotunnel and Société Coopérative de Production SeaFrance v Competition Commission (1) [Archived]

Eurotunnel and Société Coopérative de Production SeaFrance v Competition Commission (1) [Archived] CASE HUB ARCHIVED—this archived case hub reflects the position at the date of the judgment of 4 December 2013; it is no longer maintained. See further, timeline, commentary and related/relevant cases. Note–the case was remitted back to the CC/CMA–see Eurotunnel/SeaFrance (remittal investigation). Case facts Outline First appeals by Eurotunnel and Société Coopérative de Production SeaFrance against the Competition Commission’s decision prohibiting the completed acquisition by Eurotunnel of SeaFrance assets Parties Groupe Eurotunnel, the Channel Tunnel operator who acquired three SeaFrance ferries and other assets and now operates them between Dover and Calais under the MyFerryLink brand Société Coopérative de Production SeaFrance (SCOP). SCOP is the workers' co-operative of former SeaFrance employees who operate the MyFerryLink ferries for Eurotunnel and act as sales and marketing agent whilst Eurotunnel accept the commercial risk Competition Commission Market(s) Transportation of freight and passengers across the 'short sea' part of the English Channel. ...

International merger control developments—November 2022

International merger control developments—November 2022 This month has seen the Government of Canada launch a consultation on further reforms to the Canadian Competition Act, including proposals relating to the merger control regime, and the Korean Fair Trade Commission launching a consultation regarding proposed amendments to the M&A Review Guidelines. Canada—Government announces review of the Canadian Competition Act On 17 November 2022, the Government of Canada published a paper setting out a comprehensive review of Canada’s Competition Act. The paper outlines five key areas of potential reform, including the law on merger control. The paper does not contain firm recommendations on specific legislative amendments, but instead poses open-ended questions for discussion (although with certain policy leanings).In relation to merger control, the key points to note are set out below. • Thresholds and non-notifiable mergers: the discussion paper asks whether the current merger control thresholds are adequately calibrated to capture mergers of interest and whether non-notifiable mergers should be subject to review and challenge for a longer period of time,...

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Financial Services weekly highlights—5 September 2024

This week's edition of Financial Services weekly highlights includes: PRA to publish near-final Basel 3.1 rules on 12 September 2024; OFSI to bring first penalty for sanctions violation this year; EU report identifies ways to build climate resilience and tackle insurance protection gap; plus dates for your diary over the coming week.

CMA publishes full text of its Nationwide Building Society/Virgin Money merger decision

The Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) has published the full text of its 19 July 2024 decision to clear the anticipated acquisition by Nationwide Building Society of Virgin Money UK PLC. The CMA found that the acquisition is a relevant merger situation that does not give rise to a realistic prospect of a substantial lessening of competition.

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