In the first part of his recent article in the Austrian Competition Journal, Fabian Ziermann discusses the changing landscape of European merger control. He outlines the evolution of the notion of control, emphasizing that uncontrolled acquisitions, i.e., below-the-threshold killer or zombie acquisitions, were never envisaged to be possible by European regulators. The two-part article examines whether Continental Can and Towercast represent an attempt by the CJEU to limit ex post merger control, whether Towercast is an ultra vires restriction on the application of Art. 102 TFEU, or a de facto acquisition ban for bottleneck holders. The article is available here.
