In the Picture – M&A transactions that lead to a change in control and that exceed certain (most often, turnover) thresholds must be notified to the competent competition authorities. This is the notification obligation. Such a transaction may not be implemented until it is formally approved.

This is the standstill obligation. Breaching either of the two obligations is called gun jumping. The standstill obligation prevents the buyer from receiving a number of veto rights relating to the behavior of the target company between the inking of the transaction documents (signing) and the transfer of the ownership of the target company (closing).

Interested in which veto rights are allowed and which ones are not? Read this month’s In the Picture newsletter by Herlinde Burez, Maaike Visser and Laura Sente and discover more on gun jumping and its pitfalls.