Deals
Nixed Deals Across Atlantic Show Tougher Regulators' Stance
- Staples-Office Depot, CK Hutchison-O2 mergers thwarted
- More than $900 billion of deals announced in 2015 fell apart
Staples, Office Depot Shares Plummet on Abandoned Merger
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The almost-simultaneous blocking of mergers valued at more than $20 billion in the U.S. and Europe this week signals that government regulators across the globe are showing little tolerance for deals between direct competitors.
The European Union on Wednesday thwarted CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd.’s 10.25 billion pound ($14.8 billion) bid to buy Telefonica SA’s O2 unit in the U.K. to create that country’s biggest mobile carrier. The move came hours after U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington halted the $6.3 billion merger of Staples Inc. and Office Depot Inc.