Competition Law/ Anti-Monopoly Law

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According to the information released by MOFCOM in its news conference at the end of 2011, statistics indicate that in the year of 2011, MOFCOM received 194 notifications for antitrust review on concentration in total, the amount of received cases increased by 43% compared to last year. Among them, the number of accepted cases by …

On 12th December 2011, MOFCOM publicly disclosed its decision to clear Samsung and Seagate hard disk deal by imposing several conditions. According to the Asset Purchase Agreement, Seagate Technology intends to acquire control of Samsung Electronics’ hard disk business by purchasing all relevant assets. The acquiring party, Seagate Technology, is a multinational enterprise, engaging in …

MOFCOM is getting more and more efficient upon dealing with its own work. Only 10 days after the Alpha V/Savio conditional clearance, MOFCOM imposed conditions on another proposed concentration between General Electric (China)., Ltd (hereinafter referred to as GE China) and China Shenhua Coal to Liquid and Chemical Co., Ltd (hereinafter referred to as CSCLC) on 10th, November, 2011. It is noticed that GE China/CSCLC is already the NO.2 conditional clearance on concentration only two months after the “Provisional Regulation on the Assessment on the Competitive Effects of Concentration of Undertakings” is officially released in the end of August (hereinafter referred to as “Provisional Regulation”). That to some extent gives people the impression that the Provisional Regulation does not only give administrative counterparts guidance, but also standardized and facilitated MOFCOM’s antitrust reviewing work on concentration in some degree.Continue Reading MOFCOM’s Second Conditional Clearance on Concentration after the Release of its Guidance on Analysis of Competitive Influence

On 31st October 2011, MOFCOM posted the No.73 Notice in its website, announcing to clear proposed concentration between Penelope Co., Ltd and (referred to as “Penelope” hereinafter) and Savio Macchine Tessili S.p.A. (referred to as “Savio” hereinafter) with certain conditions. Without doubt, the reasoning and analytical instruments utilized by MOFCOM would shed some light on of what attitude and approach hold by MOFCOM when facing anti-monopoly review of concentration.

According to MOFCOM’s notice, the proposed acquiring party (Penelope) is established as a tool specifically for the sake of this concentration transaction. Alpha Private Equity Fund V (referred to as “Alpha V” hereinafter) is Penelope’s wholly-owned controlling shareholder (the “parent”), which is a private equity fund and invests in non-ferrous metal recycling, production and sales of home textile and textile machinery. Meanwhile, being the largest shareholder, Alpha V holds 27.9% equity shares of Uster technologies Co., Ltd (referred to as “Uster” hereinafter)

Proposed acquired party in the said concentration (Savio) is a manufacturer of textile machinery, engaging in the production of electronic yarn clearers for winders, twisters and rotor-spinning frames. Beside, Phenanthrene Brothers Co., Ltd (referred to as “Phenanthrene Brothers” hereinafter).is a wholly owned subsidiary of Savio.Continue Reading MOFCOM Announced the Another Conditional Clearance on Concentration

A spokeswoman from the Ministry of Commerce publicly declared in the recent, that the Ministry has officially accepted the notification on Nestlé’s acquisition of Hsu Fu Chi. If the Ministry turns on the green light for this filing it could be one of the biggest foreign takeovers of a Chinese undertaking historically.

A spokeswoman from the Ministry of Commerce publicly declared in the recent, that the Ministry has officially accepted the notification on Nestlé’s acquisition of Hsu Fu Chi. If the Ministry turns on the green light for this filing it could be one of the biggest foreign takeovers of a Chinese undertaking historically.

Founded in 1866 by Henri Nestlé in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé is the world’s leading Nutrition, Health and Wellness company. Nestlé’s product lineup covers from baby food, bottled water, cereals, chocolate & confectionery, coffee, culinary, chilled & frozen food, dairy, drinks to food service, healthcare nutrition, ice cream, petcare, sport nutrition, and further to weight management.Continue Reading Nestlé’s Filing of Acquiring China’ Largest Listed Confectionery Company Has Been Accepted

With already more than 3 years of practice experience concerning antitrust review to concentrations, the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China in recent publicly announced its first set of guideline thereof on August 29, 2011, namely, “Provisional Regulation on the Assessment on the Competitive Effects of Concentration of Undertakings ( it would be abbreviated as “the Regulation” hereinafter).

It should be recognized that the Regulation reflects great significance in many facets without doubt. For one thing, the substantive process of reviewing and assessing concentrations by the Ministry of Commerce is tranparentized in a large degree. As a result, relevant competitors, consumers and other stakeholders of interest could obtain much more convenience for the purpose of supervising antitrust enforcement.

In the second place, the Ministry took this opportunity to standardize in the Regulation, which factors that they will take the most account into in principle, which interests they will consider principally when balancing the pro-competitive and anti-competitive effects of concentration concerned. In this connection, the Regulation would possess the function of conducting, standardizing as well as facilitating the work of antitrust control to concentrations of the Ministry.Continue Reading The First Guideline for Reviewing Concentrations in China Has Been Freshly Baked

The Price Supervision, Inspection and Antitrust Bureau of NRDC has confirmed to the public on 2nd December 2011, that they have received applications from China Unicom and China Telecom for the suspension of probe on alleged abuse of dominant position by the parties in last month. In addition, China Telecom also submitted a proposal of …

On 29th November 2011, an official meeting was held between Chinese delegations led by MOFCOM’s vice minister Gao Hucheng and delegations of US antitrust agencies, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ). It is the first official high-level talk between public enforcement agencies of China and US, since DOJ and FTC signed an …

On October 31 2011 the Ministry of Commerce posted Notice 73 in its website, announcing the clearance of a proposed concentration between Penelope Co Ltd and Savio Macchine Tessili SpA on certain conditions. The ministry’s reasoning and analysis shed light on its approach to the review of concentrations on anti-monopoly grounds.

The notice states that the would-be acquirer, Penelope, was incorporated specifically as a tool for the transaction. Alpha Private Equity Fund V is Penelope’s wholly-owned controlling shareholder – it invests in non-ferrous metal recycling and the production and sale of textile and home textile machinery. Alpha V is the largest shareholder in Uster technologies Co Ltd, holding 27.9% of the equity shares.

Savio, the proposed target, is a manufacturer of textile machinery. It produces electronic yarn clearers for winders, twisters and rotor-spinning frames. Phenanthrene Brothers Co Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Savio.Continue Reading Conditional Clearance Offers Further Insight on Concentrations