CK Telecoms and the Assessment of Horizontal Mergers in Oligopolistic Markets: Does the More Economic Approach Entail Stricter Judicial Review?

Case T-399/16 CK Telecoms UK Investments Ltd v European Commission, Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber, Extended Composition) of 28 May 2020
The General Court annulled the European Commission’s decision prohibiting the acquisition of Telefónica Europe plc, operating on the UK retail telecommunications market under the brand name ‘O2’, by CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd, operating on the same market under the brand name ‘Three’. In the first judgment on the application of the Significant Impediment to Effective Competition (SIEC) test to horizontal concentrations on oligopolistic markets, the General Court held that the Commission had failed to demonstrate that the concentration would significantly impede effective competition.