Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, WORTH NOTING—Other Antitrust and Trade Regulation developments, (May 11, 2016)

A periodic roundup of other items of interest to the Antitrust and Trade Regulation community.

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS NEWS: The European Commission (EC) has blocked the proposed acquisition of Telefónica UK’s mobile network operator “O2” by Hutchison. The deal would have combined “O2” with Hutchison 3G UK’s mobile network operator “Three,” giving the merged entity a market leading share of more than 40 percent, the EC announced. The EC had several competition concerns, one of which was that the proposed acquisition would have eliminated competition between “Three” and “O2” (potentially resulting in less incentive to compete with the two remaining mobile network operators, reduced choice and quality of service, and higher prices for mobile services in the UK). Other concerns were that the deal would have fundamentally changed the competitive dynamics regarding the UK’s mobile network structure and reduced the number of mobile network operators willing to host other mobile operators on their networks.

ANTITRUST NEWS: The Competition Tribunal has released, on its website, the reasons for its decision on April 27, 2016, to partially grant the Commissioner of Competition’s application against the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB). The Tribunal agreed in all important aspects with the Commissioner’s position that TREB abused its market power, in violation of Section 79 of the Competition Act, by imposing restrictions on the ability of brokerages to offer innovative products and services to consumers over the internet. The partial grant of the Commissioner’s application means that the legal requirements for the Tribunal to issue an order have been satisfied but an additional hearing is necessary to determine the terms of that order.

Companies: Hutchison; Telefónica

News: Antitrust AcquisitionsMergers