Clifford Chance
When is an enterprise not an enterprise? The Eurotunnel case continues
5 August 2015
Under the merger control provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has no jurisdiction over acquisitions of assets that do not amount to an “enterprise” – ie “the activities, or part of the activities, of a business”. The Eurotunnel/SeaFrance merger is the first case in which a court has ruled on what amounts to an enterprise for these purposes. The judgment of the Court of Appeal (CA) in Société Coopérative de Production SeaFrance (SCOP) v CMA – the third ruling in the case but possibly not the last – is therefore significant, in particular for sales of assets of insolvent companies.
Alex Nourry and Dan Harrison discuss the implications. This article was first published in Competition Law Insight for 7 July 2015 (www.competitionlawinsight.com).
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When is an enterprise not an enterprise? The Eurotunnel case continues
