Latest Updates

August 7, 2022

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.

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July 31, 2022

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.

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May 16, 2022

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.

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May 16, 2022

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.

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April 4, 2022

Irit Brodsky Featured in Globes Article on Dramatic Changes to Merger Announcements

New Israel Competition Authority regulations impose a heavier reporting obligation on companies seeking to merge. These new regulations have many possible consequences, for better or worse. Firm partner Irit Brodsky discusses the changes in an in-depth article by Globes on the subject.

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March 28, 2022

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.

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January 18, 2022

Israeli Competition Authority Taking Strict Position toward Vertical Price Maintenance Arrangements

A few days ago, the Israeli Competition Authority published for public comments draft public statement 1/22, presenting its position on vertical price maintenance arrangements. The final public statement 1/22 will replace the Competition Authority’s previous statement 2/17 published in 2018.

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January 10, 2022

Dramatic Ruling on Excessive Pricing: District Court Denies Two Motions to Certify Class Actions against Tnuva

In December 2021, the Jerusalem District Court dismissed two motions to certify a class action against the leading dairy manufacturer in Israel, Tnuva, for charging excessive prices. Both the motion and the dismissal are part of an intense dispute for years. The dispute revolves around whether the prohibition of a monopolist charging an “unfair” price applies to charging excessive fees. In 2014, the director-general of the Competition Authority published a public statement on the prohibition of excessive pricing by a monopoly.

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November 28, 2021

For the First Time, Israel Competition Authority Enforces Prohibition on Excessive Pricing

For the first time, the Israel Competition Authority has opened enforcement proceedings against a monopolist for abuse of its dominant position by charging an unfairly high price. Subject to a hearing, the authority intends to impose a pecuniary sanction of ILS 8 million on MBI Pharma Ltd. and personal sanctions on two officers of the company (of about ILS 600,000 each). The company faces accusations of charging an excessive price for Leadiant, a life-saving drug for CTX patients (an incurable genetic disease), which is marketed by MBI Pharma in Israel.

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August 8, 2021

Amendment to Israeli Competition Rules – RPM Arrangements

The block exemption for non-horizontal arrangements recently underwent a significant change. Beyond changing the name of the block exemption to “Rules of Economic Competition,” a significant amendment was introduced relating to the issue of price restraints in vertical arrangements.

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April 13, 2021

Barnea Represented Gnrgy in Sale to O.P.C. Energy

Firm partner Yuval Lazi and associate Mayer Winkler advised Gnrgy, a company operating in the field of electric vehicle charging, in its sale to public company O.P.C. Energy, part of the Idan Ofer Group. The transaction amount was NIS 67 million. Our legal services consisted of advising on all aspects of the transaction, including antitrust issues.

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February 3, 2021

Submission of Joint Offers in Tenders

When competing entities join forces to submit a tender offer, it reduces the overall number of entities competing for a tender. Reducing the number of competing entities may increase the market power of those participating entities against the tender holder and enable them to make less attractive offers.

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January 10, 2021

Israel Competition Authority Increases Enforcement against Exclusivity Arrangements

On December 30, 2020, the Israel Competition Authority (ICA) notified SOS, a company in the field of fueling services, it was imposing a financial sanction of NIS 6.3 million on the company. In addition, it imposed a financial sanction of NIS 350,000 on an executive officer in the company. Following a complaint an SOS competitor filed with the ICA, the ICA concluded SOS had entered into exclusivity agreements with its clients. The company also implemented a policy whereby it would not provide fueling services to a client if the client simultaneously engaged with a competing fuel service provider.

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August 8, 2019

Entities with Relatively Small Market Shares May Also Be Deemed Monopolies

Six months after the amendment to the Economic Competition Law took effect, the Competition Authority published its position regarding the circumstances in which even an entity with less than a 50% market share may be deemed a "monopoly holder."

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February 27, 2019

Event Invite: The Impact on Your Business of New Amendments to the Restrictive Trade Practices Law

Our firm is holding a seminar on March 18 about the ways in which recent amendments to the Restrictive Trade Practices Law meet the daily needs of a corporation and its officers. A representative from the Israel Competition Authority will also take part.

Registration link

January 8, 2019

Amendment to the Israeli Restrictive Trade Practices Law

On January 1, 2019, Israel's parliament approved an amendment to the Restrictive Trade Practices Law. This amendment seeks to deepen and focus the Antitrust Authority’s efforts to prevent activities posing potential harm to competition and to the public.

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December 20, 2018

Update to Block Exemptions for Joint Ventures and Restraints Ancillary to Mergers

Two important block exemptions have been updated recently: the exemption for joint ventures and the exemption for restraints ancillary to mergers. The amendments transfer the examination of the intensity of the harm to competition deriving from these arrangements from the Israel Antitrust Authority to the business sector.

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November 8, 2018

Barnea Represented Sakal Global Duty Free Ltd.

Our firm represented the owner of Sakal Global Duty Free Ltd. in the sale of the company as part of the sale of the entire Sakal Group to businessman Teddy Sagi.

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August 27, 2018

Amendment to Block Exemption for Non-Horizontal Arrangements with No Particular Price Restrictions Approved

An amendment to a block exemption for non-horizontal arrangements with no particular price restrictions was recently approved. The purpose of the amendment to the block exemption is to clarify the term “competitors,” which was defined in a general and vague manner in the original block exemption.

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January 14, 2018

Ilan Blumenfeld Participated in a Panel Discussion on Antitrust Issues for Haaretz's "Echad Ha'am"

Adv. Ilan Blumenfeld, a partner in Barnea's Antitrust Department, participated in a panel discussion on proposed amendments to the Antitrust Law for Haaretz's "Echad Ha'am" magazine (pages 16–19).

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Latest Updates / Antitrust and Competition