Chiquita–Fyffes deal may be abandoned Chiquita Brands International, Inc. (Chiquita) announced of its intention to merge with Fyffes Plc (Fyffes) in March 2014. The deal was notified to the European Commission (case M.7220) in August 2014. Recently Cutrale-Safra has made a more attractive offer to Chiquita. It is very likely that Chiquita’s shareholders will vote the merger with Fyffes down. Background On 10 March 2014 Chiquita (a leading banana producer) and Fyffes (Irish tr

European Commission adopts proposal to strengthen shareholder engagement for Europe’s largest companies In April 2014 the European Commission adopted proposal on measures to improve the corporate governance of approximately 10.000 companies listed on Europe’s stock exchange. The proposal would enhance the long-term sustainability of these 10.000 companies. In addition, it would provide hand-reach solutions for Single Member Companies (SME’s) in order to operate cross-border m

Functioning and future of Insurance Block Exemption Regulation: Consultations has started The European Commission has launched consultations to seek the views of companies on the functioning and the future of the Insurance Block Exemption Regulation No 267/2010 (IBER), which expires in March 2017. IBER exempts certain categories of agreements, decision and concerted practices between companies in the insurance sector from EU antitrust rules. Any interested party may contribut

On-going investigation by the European Commission On 12 August 2014 the European Commission sent Statement of Objections to the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) for suspected abuse of dominance position on the Bulgarian wholesale electricity market. Its preliminary view is that territorial restrictions on resale contained in BEH's electricity supply contracts with traders on the non-regulated Bulgarian wholesale electricity market may breach EU antitrust rules. Such restrictio

European Commission closes its inquiry on luxury watchmakers The European Commission has closed its antitrust inquiry on luxury watchmakers in several member states (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) in relation to their refusal to supply spare parts to independent watch repairers. The European Commission concluded that it saw only a limited likelihood of finding the infringement in the present case. The inquiry took place after the European Federation of Watch and Cl

Suppliers with special charge in Electricity Market Pursuant to EMRA’S board decision on 12.09.2012, operations of retail and wholesale electricity, operated by distribution companies shall be carried out within different legal entities from 01.01.2013 on. Therefore, “Supplier Companies With A Special Charge” is regulated by the Code of Electricty Market Numbered 6446 (the Code). Pursuant to the Code, a supplier company in the electricity market, is a legal entity which deals

Servier and 5 generics are fined for delaying the generic entry of perindopril On 9 July 2014 the European Commission imposed fines totaling Euro 427.7 million on the French pharmaceutical company Servier and five producers of generic medicine for concluding a series of deals preventing the launch of a new generic medicine. The European Commission decided their actions were in violation of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU. Servier held a significant market power on the bestselling b

Capital Markets Law: Turkey Article 27 of the Code of Capital Markets Numbered 6362 (the Code) regulates “right to expulsion” and “right to sell share”. This Article of the Code is introduced pursuant to European Union legislation and especially aims to protect small investors. The “right to expulsion” provides an opportunity to change the structure of the company. A shareholder, who reaches the required percentage of shares is able to terminate the publicly traded status, wh

REVISED DE MINIMIS NOTICE SUMMARY: The revised Notice on agreements of minor importance, which do not appreciably restrict competition (“De Minimis Notice”) was adopted by the European Commission (“EC”) on 25 June 2014. The De Minimis Notice excludes certain practices and arrangements between the companies from the general EU law prohibition of anti-competitive agreements under Article 101(1) of Treaty on Functioning of the EU (“TFEU”) depending of the market power of the com

Russia’s Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has signed a settlement agreement with Republic of Uzbekistan to terminate the case in ICSID. Russia’s Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has signed a settlement agreement with Republic of Uzbekistan, under the terms of which the company will resume offering mobile services in Uzbekistan through a joint venture with the government. MTS’s to re-entry to the market comes with the caveat that it must drop legal proceedings against the republic in the Worl