On Wednesday Canon lost its challenge against a 28 million euros ($29.4 million) EU fine after Europe’s second-top court upheld the sanction imposed for jumping the gun in a 2016 acquisition, reported Reuters.
In 2019 a decision the EU said Canon breached the rules by using a so-called “warehousing” two-step transaction structure involving an interim buyer to purchase Toshiba’s medical unit before gaining regulatory clearance.
Companies which close a deal without first securing EU regulatory approval or provide misleading information during the regulatory review can face fines up to 10% of their aggregated turnover under EU merger rules.
The unorthodox method allowed Toshiba, which was struggling for cash after an accounting scandal, to book proceeds in time for the financial year-end ending in March.
The Luxembourg-based General Court backed the EU competition enforcer’s finding. “The (European) Commission was therefore right to observe that the Court’s case-law distinguishes between the concepts of ‘concentration’ and ‘implementation of a concentration’,” judges said.
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
