UK merger control: Key legal and practical considerations

When planning a transaction, it is increasingly important for parties to consider fully the potential application of merger control regimes worldwide.

As part of Chambers Global Practice Guides series, our experts have contributed an overview of the current UK merger control regime.

This overview highlights key legal and practical considerations for parties planning acquisitions or investments with a link to the UK, and emphasises:

• the ability of the UK Competition and Markets Authority (the "CMA") to investigate acquisitions of minority shareholdings;
• the CMA's discretion to investigate transactions (including "foreign-to-foreign" transactions) where the parties' activities overlap in the UK (even if they do not achieve turnover in the UK); and
• the risks arising where a transaction is completed without merger control clearance, and the CMA subsequently decides to investigate.