European Commission Dawn Raids Merging Parties for “Gun Jumping”
12/14/2007The European Commission carried out unannounced inspections (dawn raids) at the UK premises of two S PVC producers on 12 and 13 December 2007. The reason for the dawn raids was “gun jumping” with respect to the parties’ pending merger.
The Commission officials were accompanied by Office of Fair Trading inspectors. The authorities used their investigatory powers under the EC Merger Regulation in an attempt to determine whether Hydro Polymers and INEOS Enterprises Ltd have started to merge prior to receiving clearance of the notified deal from the Commission. Hydro has claimed that the authorities wanted to establish whether any improper exchange of information had taken place between the two parties as they await to see whether the Commission approves the transaction.
The Commission is still considering whether the deal would give INEOS too much control over the plastics industry. Its investigation is set to conclude by 18 February 2008. In confirming the dawn raids, the Commission emphasised that it must act whenever it suspects an infringement of the EC Merger Regulation, including “gun jumping”.
