This morning, our firm held a webinar in collaboration with the Association of Corporate Counsel on the strengthening of merger enforcement, especially in light of the landmark decision in the Strauss-Weiler merger. The webinar featured a presentation by Adv. Gal Rozent, head of our competition department, and was attended by dozens of in-house legal counsel.
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Webinar on Competition Law Addressing the Strengthening of Merger Enforcement
Categories:
Antitrust and Competition
Israel Competition Commissioner imposes an unprecedented pecuniary sanction for merger "gun-jumping"
The Director-General of the Israel Competition Authority recently imposed a pecuniary sanction of an unprecedented amount, approximately ILS 111 million, on Strauss and Wyler Farm. This was due to what the Director-General deemed a “de facto merger” carried out before receiving the required approval, in violation of the Economic Competition Law. Strauss was subject to […]
Will the US Regulator Approve the Google-Wiz Deal? Gal Rozent Interview with TheMarker
Gal Rozent, a competition law expert, was interviewed by TheMarker following news of Google's interest in acquiring the Israeli company Wiz. Gal explained current trends in the US and Europe and what competition authorities will request to examine to approve the deal.
Categories:
Antitrust and Competition
Israeli Monopolists Barred from Granting Discriminatory Rebates
The Israeli court’s precedent-setting ruling in Aviad Concrete Industries v. Nesher Israel Cement Enterprises found that Nesher violated provisions of the Economic Competition Law when it gave its major customers significantly higher rebates than those it gave to its small customers, thereby harming competition.
Barnea: Representing Aviad in Precedential Competition Lawsuit
Our firm represented Aviad Concrete and Clay Industries in a lawsuit against Nesher Israel Cement Enterprises that alleged Nesher abused its monopolistic position and harmed competition. The court's ruling set a precedent regarding the limits of the prohibition imposed on monopolies from discriminating between customers. Gal Rozent and Ran Karmi represented Aviad in the lawsuit.
Categories:
Antitrust and Competition
Israel: Merger Parties Fined for Exchanging Sensitive Information
The Israel Competition Authority published a consent decree for public comment and ruled that Mizra and Zilber violated the Competition Law by exchanging sensitive business information during their transaction negotiations. Jointly, the companies must now pay a fine of ILS 1.5 million to the State treasury.
Webinar: Competition Authorities’ Recent Actions May Also Affect You. How Should You Prepare?
Categories:
Antitrust and Competition
Monopoly: Meta to Pay ILS 25 Million for Failing to Report Mergers
The high fine spares Meta an official determination by the Israel Competition Authority that it violated competition law by failing to report mergers, and serves as a “warning sign” to other international corporations that may not be sufficiently familiar with the obligation pursuant to Israeli law to report a merger if the company fulfills the monopoly criterion.
Gal Rozent Ranked as Leading Competition Lawyer
Who’s Who Legal has ranked Gal Rozent in its exclusive list of leading lawyers in Israel in the Competition & Antitrust field for the year 2024.
Categories:
Antitrust and Competition
Merging without Approval: Strauss Group Might Pay ILS 111 million
According to the Competition Authority’s Director General, the negative covenants included in the merger agreement between Strauss Group and Wyler Farm raise concerns of harm to competition, and the parties began implementing the merger before receiving approval.
Doing Business in Israel: Aspects of Antitrust and Competition Laws during Mergers and Acquisitions
The Director General’s position is that the Economic Competition Law also applies to a merger between an Israeli entity and a foreign entity that has not been registered as such in Israel if: (a) the foreign entity holds more than 25% of an Israeli company, or (b) more than 25% of the foreign entity’s shares are held by an Israeli company, or (c) the foreign entity has a “place of business” in Israel.
Competition Law: Massive Fines for Harming Parallel Imports
The amendment is part of the government’s efforts to bring down the cost of living by increasing competition in the import sector. However, the amendment also imposes considerable restrictions on direct importers.
Barnea: Hosting Conference on Tenders in Collaboration with ACC Israel
ICA Takes Broad Enforcement Measures against Food Suppliers
As part of a series of measures to combat the cost of living, the Israel Competition Authority’s Director General is taking broad law enforcement measures for the first time against major food suppliers for violations of the Food Law. Inter alia, the Food Law prohibits food suppliers and retailers from engaging in various commercial arrangements that could prevent small suppliers or retailers from competing.
Unprecedented Sanction for Failing to Provide a Full Response to the Israel Competition Authority’s Demand for Data
This is not the first time the Israel Competition Authority has imposed sanctions on companies that fail to respond adequately to its demands for data. However, this is the highest sum ever imposed for such a violation and approaches the maximum the ICA’s Director General may impose in this regard.
Algorithm-Based Pricing – the Next Challenge in Competition Law?
The uptrend in the use of algorithm-based pricing tools is increasing competition concerns, especially wherever market concentration is high. Are competition laws equipped to deal with this situation?
Gal Rozent Lectures at Annual Competition Law Conference
Gal Rozent, the head of our firm’s Competition and Antitrust Department, was invited to lecture at Haifa University’s annual competition law conference. Senior officials from the competition field and attorneys from Israel’s leading law firms attended.
Categories:
Antitrust and Competition
Ministry of Economy and Industry v. Coca-Cola: Gal Rozent Interview
Last March, Coca-Cola alerted retailers of a 7% price increase for its sugary drink products. Yesterday, the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry informed Coca-Cola of its intention to examine the need for supervision of the company's products in Israel. The ministry suspects Coca-Cola’s significant product price increase may affect the beverage sector in Israel as a whole. As an expert in the competition field, Gal Rozent was interviewed by TheMarker on the subject.
Categories:
Antitrust and Competition
New Israeli Restrictions on Direct Importers
The Israeli government is continuing to amend the Competition Law with the intention of curbing the cost of living. In the crosshairs are direct importers, who will be subject to strict scrutiny once the amendments are enacted.
Drastic Measures to Reduce Concentration and Increase Competition in the Israeli Food and Toiletries Market
The Israeli Ministry of Finance and the Competition Authority are pushing to introduce a plan in the annual Economic Arrangements Law that would impose significant restrictions on importers and suppliers of major brands, with the aim of reducing concentration and increasing competition in the food and toiletries market in Israel.
Barnea: Hosting Conference on Labor Law and Competition Law
Firm partners Gal Rozent and Neta Bromberg lectured at a conference we hosted for the CEOs of Israel’s leading cleaning companies, part of Israel’s cleaners’ union.
Israel: Foreign Company Fined for Failing to Comply with Competition Authority’s Request for Information
The Israeli Competition Authority believes its authority to issue information requests is not limited to Israeli companies, and that foreign companies with no affiliation to Israel are also subject to its authority and to fines for breach of the Competition Law.
Israel: Monopoly Fined for Unfair Excessive Price
The Israeli Competition Director General fined MBI and company officers after they spiked the price of a life-saving drug called Leadiant by hundreds of percentage points.
Is AI-Based Pricing a Detriment to Competitiveness?
The increasing commercial use of AI-based pricing engines will place new challenges before Israel’s competition authorities, both due to concerns about the creation of new means of price coordination between competitors, and, perhaps primarily, because such pricing engines intensify the competition failures that already exist, especially in low-competition markets. Gal Rozent and Ran Karmi elaborate on these challenges in an op-ed for Calcalist.
Competition and Antitrust: Gal Rozent and Ran Karmi Article in Calcalist
Money laundering allegations against bid competitors convicted of coordinating a tender (coupled with charges of competition law offenses and fraud) may lead to aggravated penalties compares to those imposed on “regular” antitrust offenders. The Competition Authority’s decision to freeze and confiscate assets by virtue of Israel’s Anti-Money Laundering Law will exert heavy pressure, both financial and mental, on those under investigation and indictment. Read Gal Rozent and Ran Karmi’s article on the issue in Calcalist.
Categories:
Antitrust and Competition
Public Statements: Hagit Ross and Gal Rozent Participate in Webinar Hosted by Israeli Association of Public Companies
Hagit Ross, a partner in our Capital Markets Department, and Gal Rozent, a partner in our Competition Department, participated today in a forum hosted by the Israel Association of Public Companies. They gave a joint lecture entitled, "Public Statements by Officers in Public Companies – Do's and Don'ts."
Doing Business in Israel: Antitrust and Competition Aspects of M&A Transactions
Every foreign company considering a merger with an Israeli company (or with an international company connected to an Israeli company) must pay great attention to various elements characterizing Israeli merger control.
Public Corporations and Public Announcements – between the Rock of Israeli Competition Law and the Hard Place of Securities Law
While the Israeli Securities Law obligates public companies to report their activities fully and transparently, the Israeli Competition Authority may prosecute them precisely for doing so.
Israeli Supreme Court: Monopolies May Be Sued for Charging Unfair Excessive Prices
Israeli district courts have already recognized the possibility of suing a monopoly for charging an unfair excessive price, but the Israeli Supreme Court’s recognition of this cause of action ends defendants’ potential arguments for opposing this very possibility.
Israeli Supreme Court Limits Possibility of Pleading Reliance on Assistance of Counsel as Defense against Indictment
The Supreme Court issued a ruling in principle that it sees no merit in the approach of releasing a person who breached the law from criminal liability based on the fact his or her lawyer failed to warn that the planned action was criminal.
Israeli Draft Bill Obligates Monopolists to Publish Financial Statements
The striking innovation in this draft bill is that, upon its enactment, monopolists, even if not declared as such, must publish their financial statements, even if they are not reporting companies.
Significant Change in Format to Report Mergers to Competition Authority
The new format heralds a reduction in the volume of transactions that require reporting. However, it imposes a far heavier burden on parties to transactions that do require reporting, even for mergers posing no competitive concerns.