Clifford Chance
UK Merger Control Overview 2012
6 February 2013
A number of patterns have emerged from the treatment of mergers by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) over recent years. Deciding whether to notify has become increasingly complex, due to the prominence of hold-separate obligations and own-initiative cases. In 2012, the number of referrals to the Competition Commission continued to increase and the OFT's use of remedies also rose. Many OFT reviews have been longer than the "standard" 40 working day review period, involving increasingly demanding evidential requirements.
This briefing examines these recent trends and the underlying statistics.
