GSK / Novartis Cleared European Commission Merger Case

In January 2015, the European Commission cleared the $13 billion (£9.2 billion) transaction between GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Novartis, subject to conditions, after a Phase I investigation. The transaction involved (a) the transfer of Novartis' human vaccines to GSK; (b) a sole control JV involving OTC consumer health products; and (c) transfer of GSK oncology products to Novartis.

Compass Lexecon provided economic advice and analysis in relation to competition investigations of the deal, in particular in Europe and the U.S. We provided extensive filing support during pre-notification and investigation periods. The work included, for example, market share analysis, price correlation analysis, and bidding analysis.

The European team included Kirsten Edwards-Warren, Enrique Andreu, Soledad Pereiras, Laura Phaff, Scott Holbrook, Sergey Khodjamirian, Martina Caldana, Michele Avagliano, Segye Shin, Ferenc Peto, Su-Ann Lim and Hyung-Joong Kim, who worked closely together with colleagues from our U.S. offices including Loren Smith. The merger won the Global Competition Review award for ‘Matter of the Year’ in 2015.