Navigating Antitrust: 10 Key Themes 2025 (Freshfields)

Summary

• This 15th edition of 10 Key Themes forecasts the most critical antitrust trends for 2025.p.3
• New US filing requirements for reportable transactions are slated to take effect in February.p.3
• Over two billion voters went to the polls in 2024, with competition law and policy expected to realign in many jurisdictions.p.6
• The European Commission may explore alternative ways to intervene in below-threshold transactions following its defeat in Illumina/Grail.p.2
• The UK Labour Party's landslide victory in the July 2024 general election brought renewed focus on economic growth.p.7

Key insights

1. Merger review will continue to be at the forefront of the US regulatory agenda.p.3
2. The volume of global antitrust disputes is expected to rise further in 2025 through a growing number of funders and claimants.p.3
3. Antitrust agencies face growing political pressure to consider domestic growth, security, resilience and industrial policy goals.p.6
4. Multi-jurisdictional coordination is becoming increasingly complex as political priorities diverge.p.6
5. The EU's Digital Markets Act and the UK's Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act keep digital markets in the antitrust spotlight.p.3