Professor Deborah Healey invited to be a moderator at the Antitrust in Asia conference in Hong Kong this May

Thur 11 April 2019

By Jayne He

 

The co-director of CIBEL Centre Professor Deborah Healey has been invited to be the moderator of the panel "High-Tech Mergers: Are they Specific?" at the Antitrust in Asia conference that will be held at The Chinese University of Hong Kong on May 24 2019.

Professor Healey recently interviewed a panel speaker, Mr Richard Blewett, Foreign Legal Consultant at Clifford Chance Hong Kong on competition law and high-tech mergers.

Professor Healey pointed out that there has been increasing debate over whether the current competition-based test is sufficient for assessing high-tech mergers. In Mr Blewett’s view, standard merger techniques are limited and it is likely that new tools will deal with technology mergers. He noted that there is a trend to shifting merger methodology to public-interest-based tests.

When Professor Healey asked what particular market features were crucial to accurately analyse high-tech merger, Mr Blewett pointed out strong network effects, which could be both positive or negative, but “understanding how a merger would impact network effects will be important.”

Professor Healey and Mr Blewett also exchanged opinions on the issue of acquisition of a start-up with great potential by a well-established market incumbent. Mr Blewett suggested that to better assess such merger, how the start-up’s service or products were attractive to the wider public was a very important issue.

The full interview and registration link for the Antitrust in Asia conference are available here.