The European Commission yesterday extended its review of IAG’s proposed acquisition of Lufthansa subsidiary BMI, after the British Airways owner approached it with concessions.

French transport and logistics company Sernam must repay €642 million in state aid after the European Commission found that it had repeatedly breached conditions attached to the grant.

The EU General Court has reduced fines imposed by the European Commission on UPM-Kymmene Oyj and FLSmidth for colluding to fix the price of industrial plastic bags, but it rejected other claims by the companies.

The European Commission has closed its investigation of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the second generic drugs probe it has dropped in a week.

Peugeot Citroën and General Motors have announced an alliance agreement, aiming to combat severe overcapacity in Europe’s automobile market.

The EU General Court has today ruled that the Netherlands’ softening of ING’s repayment terms for its capital injections in the wake of the financial crisis does not amount to further state aid, in a decision that could convince more banks to renegotiate their post-financial crisis reimbursement terms. The court overturned a European Commission decision.

The European Commission has dropped its investigation of AstraZeneca and Nycomed, having found no evidence that the pharmaceutical companies conspired to delay generic drugs from entering the market.

Julian Joshua will join Shearman & Sterling as of counsel in its Brussels’ antitrust practice, leaving Steptoe & Johnson’s competition group in Brussels.

The European Commission this week began its scrutiny of Sony/ATV’s proposed takeover of EMI’s music publishing business, examining a deal that if approved will create the largest business of its kind and reduce the number of major record companies from four to three.

Kellogg's will notify EU and US antitrust authorities over its US$2.7 billion purchase of potato crisps business Pringles, a deal agreed after a similar attempt by Pringles’ owner Procter & Gamble to sell the unit to Diamond Foods was derailed following a US investigation.

Per Hellström, head of the European Commission’s antitrust unit in charge of the IT industry, will deliver the keynote speech at GCR Live: Antitrust and Technology 2012, which takes place in London on 14 March.

The European Commission has requested Glencore and Xstrata to notify their merger, despite the companies’ initial conviction that their deal did not require notification.

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has submitted commitments in its bid for European approval of its takeover of Swiss medical device maker Synthes.

Dutch logistics company TNT Express has turned down an initial takeover bid from US-based shipping rival United Parcel Service (UPS), as competitors voice antitrust concerns about the deal.

A group of online and high-tech companies opposed to the business practices of internet search leader Google have expanded their lobbying and advocacy efforts to Europe, where a large-scale antitrust investigation of Google is under way.