France fines a below threshold merger for the first time as an anti-competitive agreement
23 October 2026
On 22 October 2026, the French Competition Authority (the FCA) fined the parties to a completed acquisition for infringing the French prohibition against anti-competitive agreements, despite the acquisition not meeting any relevant merger control notification thresholds. This is the first time a competition authority has sanctioned a merger that did not require a mandatory merger control notification on such grounds.
Any businesses operating in concentrated or monopolistic local markets should now treat every acquisition as carrying residual antitrust risk even where it falls well below notification thresholds, and should build that risk into deal planning, diligence and transaction documentation, because, in the words of the FCA's President, Benoît Cœuré, "being under the thresholds does not confer immunity".
