M&A (General)

Main Article: The Global Market for Corporate Control – 2014

Main Article: The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform recently published an essay, as part of a report on the litigation of foreign disputes in the U.S. federal courts, detailing the extraordinary impact that the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Morrison v. National Australia Bank has had on transnational securities litigation. After describing how Morrison … Continued

Executive Summary: A series of new regulations have gradually deregulate the approval process for Chinese overseas investment since the beginning of 2014. On September 6, 2014, China’s Ministry of Commerce released revised regulations that narrow the scope of types of foreign investment that need to be verified and approved, establish the management mode of “adopting … Continued

Executive Summary/Highlights: Global M&A volume in Q3 was US$888 billion, marking the second strongest quarter since 2008, exceeded only by Q2 2014. If deal volume continues at this level, global M&A activity for 2014 would exceed US$3.5 trillion, the highest annual volume since 2007. Deal volume for the first three quarters of 2014 has surged … Continued

Executive Summary:   The European Commission has fined Marine Harvest, a Norwegian seafood company and salmon processor, €20 million for acquiring Morpol without prior clearance and not long before, the Court of Justice rejected an appeal against a General Court judgment which upheld a fine imposed, also €20 million, on Electrabel for its acquisition of Compagnie … Continued

Highlights: Considering the Constitutional amendments enacted late last year, resulting in the opening of the energy industry to private investment, especially oil and gas, among other laws, the Federal Executive published the Hydrocarbons Act (“HA”) earlier last month.  The HA reaffirms the newly revised principle enshrined in the Mexican Constitution that all hydrocarbons underground belong … Continued

Executive Summary: Poland’s developing economy and entrepreneurial society with investor-friendly government policies create many interesting M&A opportunities.  There is a wide variety of companies which are directly or indirectly controlled by the state, or part of global corporations as well as small and medium firms owned by local or European entrepreneurs.  Except for privatisations, which … Continued

Executive Summary/Highlights: Global M&A surged in Q2, surpassing US$1 trillion for the first time since the financial crisis, and exceeding the next most active quarter in recent years (Q4 2012) by more than 25%.  Global M&A activity in 2014 is on pace to exceed US$3.5 trillion, approaching the $4 trillion mark reached prior to the … Continued

Main Article: The Anti-Monopoly Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce in China (“MOFCOM”) issued a decision last month prohibiting the formation of the P3 Network, a long-term container shipping alliance among A.P. Møller-Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Company and CMA CGM, which are Danish, Swiss and French companies, respectively.  In the six years since the adoption of … Continued

Executive Summary:   Pfizer’s potential bid for AstraZeneca Plc provoked strong debate in the UK on the appropriate political oversight of corporate transactions, including concerns that the deal would result in research jobs and R&D investment being lost. This briefing outlines the main legal routes by which the assurances from Pfizer in respect of the UK … Continued