COMPETITION • FRENCH LAW • MERGERS
“Crown jewels” are similar to the alternative commitments that the Competition Authority accepts in the event of uncertainty as to the transferability, viability or competitiveness of the asset proposed for divestiture. They constitute, in the same way as the commitments they are called upon to replace, an element of the decision to clear the merger, which cannot be kept confidential without prejudice to the possibility to challenge the legality of the merger in an application for judicial review for excess of power. Such alternative commitments are only justified in this specific case, especially since, once they have been brought to the attention of potential purchasers, they risk rendering the first-rank commitments ineffective, as it would be in the purchasers’ interest to frustrate negotiations concerning the first-line points of sale in order to gain access to those offered under the alternative commitments.
