Following a consultation in January, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is raising the threshold for markets where mergers might not warrant investigation from £10m to £15m. It is also changing the figure for markets generally considered not sufficiently important to warrant a merger reference from £3m to £5m. The CMA has a duty to refer mergers for an in-depth, phase 2 investigation if they could lead to a substantial lessening of competition. However, it may decide not to, for example, if it believes the costs involved are disproportionate to the size of the market concerned.
22 June 2017
Merger investigations
MOVERS & SHAKERS
WSP Solicitors—David Ashcroft & Jessica O’Shea
Commercial property and child law teams expand with senior hires
Duxton Hill Chambers—Lucas Bastin KC & Joshua Hiew
Set expands London and Singapore offering with senior international disputes hires
Gilson Gray—Gregor Duthie & Stephen Forsyth
Firm strengthens real estate and litigation teams with partner promotions
NEWS
Behind the profession’s polished exterior, lawyers are ‘internally drained rather than physically tired’, according to a stark assessment of burnout in legal practice
Five years after the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 came into force, concerns remain that the family courts continue to minimise allegations of abuse in child contact disputes
Uber has built a formidable strategy for insulating itself from liability for drivers’ conduct, but the legal terrain differs sharply between the US and England and Wales
The Civil Justice Council’s review of Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974 could mark the end of what one commentator calls an ‘outdated’ and overly technical regime governing solicitor-client fee disputes
The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026 marks a constitutional watershed by severing the centuries-old link between hereditary titles and automatic membership of the upper chamber
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