A good knowledge of the latest trends in antitrust merger regulation is becoming essential for M&A managers at business companies and other practitioners involved in M&A. This is because M&A regulation can pose the risk of requiring the cancellation or partially changing of an M&A project. M&A managers and practitioners need to take into account potential regulations when creating their M&A strategy and establish policies to comply with necessary reviews and regulations from the early stages of any project.

In fact, as the market matures in Japan, it is not uncommon for M&A for business restructuring purposes to be subject to regulation. For example, M&A were only allowed on condition that measures were taken to resolve certain issues in the integration of the Fukuoka Financial Group and the Eighteenth Bank, which was decided in 2018 and in Hitachi Metal’s acquisition of Santoku shares in 2017, among others. Careful design of the M&A project and appropriate briefings to the authorities are required in order to obtain clearance for a deal. In terms of global interest, as economies become increasingly digital in nature, competition authorities are showing deep concern about potential data and technology monopolization through M&A by the tech platform giants Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon (GAFA). As oligopolies in the digital economy also continue to develop rapidly, there seems a high possibility that antitrust regulation will become a major hurdle for M&A projects.

This seminar used some of the most well-known and latest cases from Japan, Europe, and America to provide an overview and look at the latest trends in antitrust M&A regulations and reviews; examine the concept of regulatory risk for M&A under antitrust laws; and offer tips on compliance policies, especially in serious merger reviews.