There are important developments on the antitrust horizon. While enforcement outcomes are more permissive in some areas – most notably in merger control, where intervention rates have declined in several major jurisdictions – the overall scope and reach of antitrust regulation is expanding.

Geopolitical developments and the impact of multiple supply shocks in recent years have made authorities more open to allowing mergers that can be shown to increase supply chain resilience, national security, innovation or investment in infrastructure. At the same time, regulators are widening the net. Minority shareholdings, below-threshold transactions and even completed deals are attracting scrutiny, and parallel review by multiple authorities has become the norm.

Foreign investment screening, as well as subsidy control regimes, increasingly intersects with antitrust analysis, particularly in transactions involving strategic technologies and critical infrastructure. Digital markets are at the centre of this evolution, while sector-specific scrutiny is intensifying in energy and healthcare and life sciences.

Beyond mergers, antitrust enforcement is becoming more intrusive and sophisticated. Authorities are using enhanced investigatory powers, investing in data-driven detection tools and testing the theories of harm that are now expanding beyond traditional cartel conduct. Public communications, labour practices, digital conduct and sustainability initiatives all feature prominently. At the same time, private litigation is playing an increasingly central role in shaping antitrust developments. This is driven, in particular, by the sustained rise of standalone claims, often brought as collective actions, many of which require courts to grapple with novel theories of harm that stretch the boundaries of competition law.

This briefing brings together insights from across our global antitrust practice on these developments. We hope it provides in-house legal teams with a practical framework for assessing risk, anticipating regulatory challenge and aligning antitrust strategy with commercial objectives in the year ahead.