Contributors Gen & Temizer | Özer

In August 2023, the Turkish Competition Board (“Board”) approved 19 merger and acquisition transactions. During August the Board initiated 14 new, full-fledged investigations, concluded eight on-going investigations, and held oral defences for six investigations. Also in August, the Turkish Competition Authority (“Authority”) published its 24th annual report regarding its activities in 2022.

The European Commission has initiated investigations into two proposed acquisitions under Article 22 of the EC Merger Regulation. Microsoft has also agreed to unbundle its Teams product from Office 365 in the EEA and Switzerland. The UK's competition watchdog, the CMA, has published its final guidelines on horizontal agreements. Ukraine has adopted comprehensive competition law revision for post-war era.

The Turkish Competition Board has fined EssiLux EUR 16.9 million for violating the commitments it made as part of its 2018 merger with Luxottica. The Board found that EssiLux had engaged in tying and exclusivity practices, which could have significantly lessened effective competition in the market. The Board's decision is a major setback for EssiLux, and it raises questions about the efficacy of commitments made as part of merger control approvals.

Turkey’s Competition Board (the "Board") rendered two significant decisions1 last year concerning online sales restrictions that provide a view forward for many undertakings. In its decisions, the Board scrutinised the commitment packages offered by BSH and Arçelik, two of the major small and large household appliances manufacturers in Turkey. The investigations against the companies (the “Investigations”) concerned whether Arçelik and/or BSH violated Article 4 of Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Law No. 4054”) by preventing their authorised resellers from selling online and/or interfering with resellers’ resale prices. The Board accepted the commitment packages, which Arçelik and BSH revised after an initial review of the Board, and thus closed the Investigations with respect to the online sales restrictions contemplated by Arçelik and/or BSH.

EU Advocate General Athanasios Rantos' opinion supports UEFA and FIFA in the European Super League case, stating their rules and sanctions do not violate EU competition law. Israel's Competition Authority fines MBI Pharma EUR 2.2 million for excessive pricing of a genetic disorder treatment drug. The European Commission accepts Amazon's revised commitments, closing investigations without fines. Japan investigates nine companies for alleged bid rigging in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Egypt prepares to adopt an ex-ante merger control regime requiring prior approval from the local competition authority.

In December 2022, the Turkish Competition Board approved 18 M&A transactions, initiated a new investigation, and concluded three existing investigations in the FMCG sector. The Board fined FMCG companies, including Coca-Cola and Frito-Lay, EUR 44.3 million for a hub-and-spoke cartel. The Turkish distributor of German household appliances company Schaefer settled resale price maintenance charges with a EUR 150,000 fine. The Board granted unconditional approval for the Saint-Gobain and Dalsan merger. Martı, a Turkish e-scooter company, faced fines for providing false/misleading information but avoided gun-jumping penalties.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) recently shifted its view on attorney-client privilege, now basing it on the principle of protection of private life rather than the right to defense. This expansion of legal professional privilege may have significant implications for competition authorities, including Turkey's Competition Board. To benefit from attorney-client privilege, the ECJ and Turkish Competition Board require correspondence to be between an independent lawyer and client, directly related to the exercise of the right to defense. The impact of the ECJ's decision on local competition authorities remains uncertain.

Germany’s Bundeskartellamt has opened an investigation to decide whether PayPal has taken advantage of its dominant position by using most-favored-nation clauses that limit competition in the online payments market.

In July 2021, the Paris Court of Appeal asked the ECJ for clarification on whether national competition authorities are only entitled to review transactions under EU and national merger control rules, or if they can also apply an abuse of dominance assessment and block transactions retrospectively.

In 2018, the European Commission fined French telecoms operator Altice a sum of EUR 124.5 million for breaching the notification and standstill requirements in its acquisition of PT Portugal.

During January and February, the Turkish Competition Board published eighty-one reasoned decisions and approved seventeen merger and acquisition transactions in total.

Hatırlarsınız Elon Musk, 2022 yılında Twitter'ı satın almak için yaptığı teklifle, her zaman olduğu gibi, bir kez daha dünya çapında haber olmuştu. Aylar süren görüşmelerin ve yüzlerce haber ve eleştirinin ardından, Ekim 2022'nin sonlarında da 44 milyar ABD doları karşılığında Twitter’ı satın aldı.

In a preliminary investigation involving 12 undertakings operating in the car rental sector, the Turkish Competition Board scrutinised allegations that the car rental undertakings violated Article 4 of Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition by exchanging information pertaining to stocks, competitors’ price offers and market shares, and vehicle purchase data.

In March 2023, the Turkish Competition Board published no reasoned decisions and approved twelve merger and acquisition transactions. The highlight of Turkish competition law in March was that the Board initiated a new sector inquiry regarding the possible competition effects on cities affected by the devastating earthquake that occurred in February.

On 7 April 2023, the Turkish Competition Authority published its Preliminary Report prepared within the scope of the “Online Advertising Sector Inquiry” that it initiated on 21 January 2021.

Microsoft's $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been blocked by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) due to concerns over market power. Microsoft already owns Xbox, Windows, Azure, and Xbox Cloud Gaming, which account for an estimated 60%–70% of global cloud gaming services. The CMA found Microsoft's proposed remedies inadequate, stating that "there are significant risks of disagreement and conflict between Microsoft and cloud gaming service providers." Lukoil has been fined again by Bulgaria's Commission for the Protection of Competition for abusing its dominant position, while the CMA in the UK is investigating sports broadcasters for allegedly fixing the pay for freelance workers.

In April 2023, the Turkish Competition Board made several decisions related to competition law, particularly in digital industries. The Board published two analyses related to online advertising and digitalization and launched a sector inquiry into mobile ecosystems. The Authority's preliminary sector enquiry report noted concerns about data privacy and the impact of practices involving self-preferencing and data aggregation on the online advertising industry's competitiveness. The Board analyzed the online sales restrictions for the household appliances distributor BSH and approved criteria for resellers, such as offering the same delivery types and protecting the brand image, while also allowing resellers to operate brick-and-mortar stores.

Teşebbüsler arasındaki bilgi değişimi, rekabet hukukunda önemli bir konudur. Bilgi paylaşımı, rekabeti bozabileceği gibi bazı durumlarda rekabeti artırıcı etkilere de sahip olabilir. Rekabet Kurulu, bilgi değişiminin rekabet kurallarından muaf tutulduğu pek çok karara sahiptir. Son dönemde Kurul, sektörel dernekler tarafından yapılan bazı muafiyet başvurularını reddetmiştir. Kurul, pazar araştırmaları ve bilgi değişimine daha katı bir tutum sergilemektedir. Kurul, teşebbüs birliklerinin pazar araştırmalarına yönelik uygulamalarını incelemektedir. Kurul, bazı başvuruları reddederken, bazı başvurulara da bireysel muafiyet tanımaktadır. Kararlarda verilerin toplulaştırılması ve eskitilmesi önemli bir rol oynamaktadır. Bu kararlar, Kurul'un bilgi değişimi konusundaki hassasiyetini ortaya koymaktadır.

Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been approved by the European Commission, while the UK's Competition and Markets Authority blocked the deal. The European Commission found that Microsoft's commitments addressed concerns and granted free licenses for consumers and service providers in the EEA to stream Activision Blizzard games. In Germany, the Bundeskartellamt discussed remedies for Google's online advertising business, including divesting its Chrome search engine and giving third parties access to datasets. Peru's consumer protection authority fined construction companies for a no-poach agreement, and the European Commission cleared MOL's acquisition of OMV's Slovenian subsidiary with divestments. The EU Court ordered Meta to comply with the Commission's information requests, and Sony is under investigation in Romania for alleged exclusivity practices in the PlayStation Store.

In May 2023, the Turkish Competition Board approved 19 merger and acquisition transactions and settled an investigation into the household appliances industry. Korkmaz, Gençler, and Punto faced fines for maintaining resale prices and customer restrictions. Arçelik, a multinational household appliances manufacturer, offered commitments to address allegations of online sales restrictions and resale price maintenance. The Board accepted Arçelik's commitments, which focus on enhancing consumer experience, data sharing, and quality of the distribution system. The Board fined the Chamber of Electrical Engineers for hindering on-site inspections and clarified its status as an undertaking.

Bulut Girgin has been promoted from Counsel to Partner at Gen & Temizer | Özer, an Istanbul-based full-service corporate law firm, recognized in all major global rankings, including Chambers and Partners, Legal 500, and IFLR 1000. With over 15 years of experience in...

Gen & Temizer I Özer is delighted to announce that Ömer Erdoğan has joined the Firm as Partner. His joining reinforces the Firm’s capabilities particularly their expertise in the real estate, infrastructure and energy sectors as well as project finance.Ömer has 18 years of experience advising multination...