china and india to effect new antitrust laws

China will introduce tough new antitrust laws this week and India later this year. These new regulatory developments could potentially frustrate high-profile cross-border mergers and acquisitions.  From 1 August 2008, companies will have to notify Chinese enforcement agencies of any planned mergers and acquisitions which meet designated thresholds for filing, then wait for clearance before concluding the transaction.

Both China and India are implementing regimes which are primarily based on the European Union model, which covers anti-competitive agreements, abuses of dominance and merger control. Most business executives believe that China and India's merger thresholds are far too low and are most likely to impede global deals that will have little effect on competition locally. There also exists the fear that enforcement agencies of each country will lack the resources and expertise to deal efficiently with complex merger cases.

portugal and its coffee industry

The four largest coffee distributors in Portugal, Nestlé, Delta Cafés, Nutricafés-Cafés e Restauração, and Segafredo Zanetti, Comercialização e Distribuição de Cafés, which together account for 80% of the market for coffee distribution have been accused of anti-competitive practices.

On 16 July 2008, these four companies reached an agreement with Portugal's Competition authority, which centres on long-term exclusive purchasing clauses in the companies' distribution contracts, which Portugal's Competition Authority deems anti-competitive. Portugal's Competition Authority has indicated that that it would be prepared to settle the case against the companies without issuing any fines, on condition that the four companies agree to amend the clauses to limit the exclusivity agreements to 5 years.

Webber Wentzel Newsletter 6 August 2008