The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is taking significant steps to update its approach to merger control following both the coming into force of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act on 1 January 2025 and the most recent strategic steer from the UK government. While the DMCC Act expanded the CMA’s merger control jurisdiction (as covered in Cooley’s June 2024 update), this shift came amid increasing government pressure on UK regulators to adopt a more pro-growth and business-friendly environment.
The CMA has certainly felt the impact of this pressure and outlined a series of changes aimed at making merger reviews faster, more predictable and more proportionate.
