Telecoms, data and payments transactions, M&A, JVs, SHAs, network-sharing, SaaS
In short: The Epiris Gamma Communications offer is conditional on antitrust clearance in Germany and Austria, and on foreign investment and sector clearances in Australia, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The UK condition is the National Security and Investment Act 2021. No UK competition clearance condition appears, because the Enterprise Act 2002…
In short: section 60A Competition Act 1998 obliges a UK court, the CMA and the concurrent regulators to have regard to European Commission statements made before Brexit implementation period (IP) completion day (31 December 2020) and not subsequently withdrawn. At paragraph 246 of its Guidelines of 3 September 2026 the Commission withdrew its prior 2009…
In short: The NSI Act annual report 2025-26, published 14 July 2026, shows national security screening still concentrated in defence, government supply and dual-use activity, with data infrastructure the one commercial-technology sector to feature heavily: it drew three of the nine final orders. Notifications rose 15% to 1,324, with 60 call-in notices in total. Digital-infrastructure…
![Section 172 good faith: Saxon Woods v Costa [2026] UKSC 21, Supreme Court judgment of 14 July 2026](https://bratby.law/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/section-172-good-faith-saxon-woods-header-768x402.png)
In short: in Saxon Woods v Costa [2026] UKSC 21, the Supreme Court held that section 172 good faith governs a director’s conduct as well as honest belief. A director may challenge the board’s strategy but may not secretly frustrate it. The ruling has practical implications for nominee directors, joint ventures and industry-owned companies. By…
In short: nexfibre and Substantial Group used a CMA fast-track Phase 2 reference to skip a standalone Phase 1 decision on their £2 billion fibre merger entirely. The CMA accepted the request under section 34ZD of the Enterprise Act 2002 on 1 July 2026, and section 33(1A) then made referral mandatory. The statutory deadline is…
In short: On 25 June 2026 the European Commission told Amazon and Microsoft that it provisionally regards AWS and Azure as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act. That preliminary view is the first move towards DMA cloud gatekeeper designation of a cloud service. The UK looked at the same two firms and chose a lighter…
In short: The Microsoft SMS investigation is the CMA’s inquiry into whether Microsoft has strategic market status in business software. Launched on 14 May 2026 under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, it covers Office, Windows, Windows Server, SQL Server and security software. The invitation to comment closed on 4 June 2026 and…
In short: Google search conduct requirements are the CMA’s first behavioural rules on Google’s search business. On 17 June 2026 the CMA imposed Fair Ranking and Data Portability requirements under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 strategic market status regime. Google has six and three months respectively to comply. By Rob Bratby, Managing…
In short: geographic market definition CMA practice asks where customers would switch if a hypothetical monopolist raised price by 5 to 10 per cent. The CMA’s 21 May 2026 Welltower decision found competition concerns in 30 local catchment areas. The CMA reaches the finding through postcode-level overlap mapping and drive-time isochrone analysis, a methodology that…
In short: Digital platform follow-on litigation in the UK pivots on a date many readers know as “full Brexit”. At 11pm on 31 December 2020 the UK formally left the EU competition regime; lawyers call that moment “IP completion day”. Section 58A of the Competition Act 1998, recast by the Brexit statutory instruments SI 2019/93…
In short: the draft EU merger guidelines data and digital deals reset puts ecosystem theories of harm, killer acquisitions and innovation competition at the centre of the substantive test, and introduces an Innovation Shield that protects most start-up acquisitions subject to conditions. The CMA reached similar ground in case practice on Microsoft Activision and Adobe…
EU Merger Guidelines telecoms reset: the draft elevates scale, innovation and resilience as procompetitive factors. What it means for UK M&A with EU jurisdiction.