The European Commission has approved Baxter’s acquisition of Swedish medical technology rival Gambro, subject to the divestment of Baxter’s Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy business (CRRT). However, the Commission did not find competition concerns arising from the parties’ activities in relation to the market for haemodialysis (HD), despite significant overlaps in a number of European countries. After reviewing a range of evidence, including CRA analysis of a large scale bidding dataset constructed by the parties and their advisors on the basis of tender documents, the Commission concluded that Baxter and Gambro were not particularly close competitors in HD, and would continue to face “significant competition from a range of dynamic market participants”.
CRA advised Baxter on the antitrust analysis of the deal in a number of jurisdictions, including Europe.
