by
John R. Fischer, Senior Reporter | December 16, 2019
Canon, however, has also faced challenges in 2019, including one regarding its highly unusual deal with Toshiba. The controversial $6.1 billion agreement between the two made waves in July when the deal structure Canon picked up from Toshiba Medical Systems Corp. (TMSC) earned it a 28 million euro ($32 million) fine from the European Commission. The motivation for the fine was a tactic the two used called “warehousing”, to get around filing requirements, EU antitrust enforcers said in a statement.
"Companies have to respect our competition rules and procedures,
said Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, adding that companies “are obliged to notify and wait for our approval before a merger can go ahead.”
Of the warehousing he noted, “Canon structured a transaction to circumvent these obligations when they acquired TMSC,” adding that, “our merger assessment and decision-making depends on the Commission being sure that companies are not jumping the gun and implementing mergers without our approval.”
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