Dear Readers,
This week’s enforcement activity highlights how competition authorities across jurisdictions are converging around a set of recurring themes. Supermarket and retail consolidation again attracted close scrutiny, with several transactions either cleared subject to conditions or pushed into in-depth review. Private equity also featured prominently, with authorities not only intervening in individual deals but signalling broader concern about ownership structures and roll-up strategies.
At the same time, agencies continued to open new investigations across traditional and consumer-facing sectors. Türkiye stood out, with the Competition Authority launching two fresh investigations, underlining its sustained enforcement momentum.
If you did not have the opportunity to follow all of these developments during the week, below is our selection of the most significant developments published this week.
Sylwester Frazzoni
Managing Editor
Merger Review
Merger control dominated the agenda, with a notable reviews in retail and consumer-facing markets.
Authorities in Australia, Austria and Belgium all intervened in supermarket or grocery transactions. The Australian ACCC moved Coles’ proposed Kalgoorlie supermarket acquisition to an in-depth Phase II review, while Austria and Belgium cleared supermarket deals subject to conditions, reflecting continued sensitivity around local retail concentration and consumer choice.
Private equity also featured prominently. In Korea, the competition authority blocked a private equity firm’s acquisition of Lotte Rental, citing risks of reduced competition and higher prices. At the same time, the Dutch competition authority flagged private equity as a priority area in its market assessment, signalling closer scrutiny of roll-up strategies and ownership structures.
Gun-jumping enforcement remained a constant feature, with China’s SAMR imposing another fine for implementing a transaction prior to clearance — reinforcing that procedural compliance remains firmly on regulators’ radar.
In the UK, the CMA announced the release or revocation of 37 merger remedies following a strategic review, signalling a recalibration of long-running commitments and a more selective approach to post-merger oversight.
Rounding out the picture, China reported a near-10% increase in merger filings in 2025, highlighting sustained transactional activity despite heightened global enforcement.
Antitrust Enforcement and Investigations
Enforcement agencies continued to open new cases across sectors and regions. Türkiye stood out, with the Competition Authority launching two new investigations, extending its active scrutiny of both agricultural inputs and cosmetics markets, particularly around resale price maintenance.
Elsewhere, authorities pursued cartel enforcement across a range of markets. Portugal and Taiwan imposed fines on professional and trade associations for price coordination, while Indonesia and Kazakhstan sanctioned bid-rigging and dominance-related conduct in public procurement and municipal services. Several agencies, including those in Poland, Hong Kong and Norway, advanced investigations through dawn raids and expanded probes, underscoring continued reliance on intrusive investigative measures.
Digital Markets
Digital regulation and enforcement continued to progress on multiple fronts, with authorities combining ex ante regulatory tools, formal investigations and policy signalling.
At EU level, the European Commission advanced its Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act agenda. WhatsApp was formally designated a Very Large Online Platform based on its Channels feature, bringing it within the DSA’s enhanced compliance framework. The Commission also opened DMA specification proceedings against Google, focusing on interoperability within the Android ecosystem and access to search data — reinforcing the shift from headline designation decisions to granular compliance oversight.
In the UK, the CMA proposed its first set of conduct requirements for Google Search under the UK digital markets regime, marking a significant step from regime design to operational enforcement and setting an early benchmark for how intervention may work in practice.
National authorities also continued to frame digital markets as a structural priority. The Dutch competition authority warned of rising concentration levels and identified both the digital economy and private equity as areas requiring closer scrutiny, while Denmark confirmed that digital markets will remain central to its 2026 enforcement agenda.
Beyond Europe, digital enforcement intersected increasingly with artificial intelligence. In Brazil, a court decision temporarily suspended a preventive measure imposed by CADE on Meta’s WhatsApp AI rules, illustrating how judicial oversight is beginning to shape the boundaries of competition interventions linked to AI deployment.
View all 52 last week’s news stories here.
