On 26th June 2024, the European Commission approved the acquisition by Cooper Consumer Health of Viatris’ European over the counter business in Phase I, subject to the divestment of two products.
The transaction involved a number of horizontal overlaps in areas including antiseptics and disinfectants, laxatives, warts and corns, joint and muscular pain, and tonics among others. The CRA team prepared analyses assessing the horizontal overlaps and the closeness of competition of the Parties’ products across hundreds of overlapping markets. With the exception of two products which resulted in large combined shares in two markets, the Commission found that the remaining overlaps did not result in any competition concerns.
In addition, vertical and conglomerate concerns were also analyzed by the CRA team, with the Commission establishing these did not result in any competition concerns.
A team including Raphaël De Coninck, Diana Jackson, Elina Koustoumpardi, Mariam Arutyunyan, Liam Connolly and Caspar Mueller advised Cooper Consumer Health in this transaction.
Further details can be found on the European Commission’s website.
