Chile’s Free Competition Defence Court has suspended the merger of telecom companies Entel and GTD after the National Economic Prosecutor’s Office (FNE) highlighted potentially anti-competitive effects and suggested a number of remedies.

The US Federal Trade Commission’s administrative law judge has ruled that ProMedica Health System’s purchase of rival Ohio-area hospital St Luke’s harmed competition in the region’s health care market. The ruling’s publication comes exactly one year after the commission first sued to stop the deal.

The UK’s Office of Fair Trading (OFT) today referred the merger of two water companies to the Competition Commission, complying to an automatic referral threshold that may soon be significantly increased.

Chile’s Competition Tribunal has fined Liberty Media’s owner John Malone 1.9 billion pesos (US$3.6 million) for failing to respect remedies imposed on a merger. It is the first time Chile has fined an individual for infringing commitments in a merger review.

Spain’s National Competition Commission (CNC) has accepted credit card terminal company Verifone’s proposed remedies in its merger with rival Hypercom, months after the companies announced the deal’s completion.

Belgium’s Competition Council has announced today it will allow telecoms incumbent Belgacom to purchase mobile phone shop The Phone House with conditions.

The UK’s Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has accepted commitments from food producer Princes to allow its merger with rival Premier Foods Group to go ahead.

The US Department of Justice’s antitrust division on Friday conditionally cleared Deutsche Börse’s takeover of the New York Stock Exchange, but the deal’s future in Europe still hangs in the balance.

AT&T has withdrawn its US$39 billion bid for T-Mobile, following months of opposition by US antitrust authorities.

Brazil’s Council for Economic Defence (CADE) has approved a US$3.2 billion merger between Brazilian airline TAM and Chilean flag carrier LAN – but lawyers say time will tell whether conditions imposed are sufficient to prevent excessive concentration on certain routes serviced by the new company.

Germany’s Federal Cartel Office has cleared the merger of two regional cable network operators with conditions, after “intense negotiations” with the companies.

The UK’s Competition Commission (CC) could break up the completed merger between waste management companies Stericycle and Ecowaste Southwest because it “will lead” to a substantial lessening of competition.

China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) is standing alone in imposing remedies over Seagate’s acquisition of Samsung’s hard disk business, after the US and EU unconditionally cleared the transaction.

The US Department of Justice’s antitrust division (DoJ) has approved a US$1.8 billion merger between education software provider SunGard Higher Education and rival Datatel.

A US federal court has granted a joint motion to pause the US Department of Justice’s lawsuit against the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile merger, casting even more doubt on the deal’s chances for survival.