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Dimitrios Stefanou

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Dimitrios Stefanou is an antitrust/competition and foreign investment associate working at the Amsterdam office. He is a EU-qualified lawyer (Athens and Brussels Bar (E-list)), and has trained, among others, at the Directorate General for Competition at the European Commission (Mergers Unit for Basic Industries, Manufacturing and Agriculture). Prior to that, he worked for two major Athens-based law firms, which both focused on civil and corporate litigation. He joined the Brussels office of Baker McKenzie in March 2020 as an associate, and he worked, among others, in the Stockholm office of Baker McKenzie as part of his cross-office two-month secondment, before joining Frans Muller and his team in the Amsterdam office of Baker McKenzie in October 2023.
In Antitrust / Competition

EU: Merger Control, Foreign Direct Investment and Foreign Subsidies Regulation

by , , , , , and 2 Mins Read

Agreeing conditions precedent and deal timelines has always been a challenge for companies. From an EU perspective, companies previously only had to consider whether a deal led to an EU or Member State merger control filing obligation. However, there are now three new layers of complexity for companies to consider in the EU:

  1. Article 22 and ex-post assessments: a new approach to the EU’s merger control referral mechanism together with the ex-post review of transactions has added complexity to consider when entering into a new deal.
  2. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): 23 EU Member States now have a an FDI regime which if the filing thresholds are met gives rise to a notification requirement and clearance prior to closing. Sweden is the most recent EU Member State to adopt an FDI regime, which came into force on 1 December 2023.
  3. Foreign Subsidies Regulation: as of 12 July 2023, transactions in the EU may also be subject to a further pre-closing review of broadly defined financial contributions from non-EU Member States.