ACM’s response to consultation of European guidelines for mergers and acquisitions
The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has given the European Commission six recommendations for clarifying and strengthening the European merger guidelines. ACM does so in response to the European Commission’s consultation regarding the modernization of the guidelines for assessing mergers and acquisitions. These guidelines date back to 2004 and 2008, and no longer always align with current market conditions and recent court rulings. In the public consultation, national competition authorities, businesses, and advocacy groups, among other organizations, have responded to the European Commission’s consultation.
The European Commission is planning
to review two European merger guidelines
(external website)
. In these guidelines, the Commission explains how it assesses mergers and acquisitions. The guidelines are a useful source of information for businesses that must notify ACM of their mergers or acquisitions.
ACM’s recommendations
In its response, ACM gives the following recommendations:
- ACM argues in favor of better enshrining sustainability considerations in the merger framework, and it offers suggestions for doing so, for example regarding efficiency benefits and remedies. In previous consultations, too, ACM has brought attention to sustainability aspects.
- ACM subscribes to the importance of media pluralism, and shares its experiences with taking this aspect into account in merger assessments.
- The guidelines can further explain the assessment of buyer power and countervailing buyer power. ACM shares its experiences with the required standard of proof.
- Apart from identifying anticompetitive effects, merger simulations can also be useful for identifying efficiency benefits. ACM argues in favor of starting this early in the process.
- ‘Serial acquisitions’ or ‘roll-up acquisitions’: a series of small, consecutive acquisitions can lead to market power being obtained or strengthened. ACM explains what assessment framework it uses for assessing such acquisitions, and how this can be further explained in the guidelines.
- ACM emphasizes the importance of safeguarding the role of innovative market participants in the telecom sector through harmonization and a fact-based merger framework.
The recommendations are based on ACM’s experiences with the assessment of mergers in various sectors. The European Commission will take into account all responses in a revised proposal, which is expected in late 2026.