“The Takeover Mirror”: On the EU Side of the Looking Glass, Most Regulatory Checks Are Ex Post, Not Ex Ante

When two jurisdiction both have public legal instruments such as merger control, how does their practical implementation affect outcomes? Two real cases of substantial investment by Chinese companies in Europe are introduced and then mirrored as an imaginary test case to see what would be the outcome if the European targets had been investors in China, with the Chinese investors now as targets. The cases are CTG/EDP and Geely/Daimler. The tentative conclusion is that practical implementation of legal instruments such as the timing of required approvals (before closing the deal) versus own responsibility (accountable after closing the deal if requirements are not met) result in the difference between “cannot do” in one jurisdiction versus “may not do” in the other.