The merger-of-equals transaction between Raytheon Company and United Technologies Corporation has closed, creating Raytheon Technologies Corporation, the world’s most advanced aerospace and defense systems provider.

Further to the recent Shearman & Sterling event about the future of subsidy control State aid in the U.K., held on Wednesday 4 March 2020.

Shearman & Sterling is advising Raytheon on the sale of its Military Airborne Radios business to BAE Systems.

Partner James Webber (London-Antitrust) and senior associate Paschalis Paschalidis (Paris-International Arbitration) will speak at the Lexology Webinar “State aid as a European Commission Policy Lever: How Much Further?” organized by Shearman & Sterling, together with Lexology on March 12, 2020.

The UK State Aid Law Association and Shearman & Sterling are organizing an evening seminar titled “UK Subsidy Control After Brexit” on March 4, 2020. Panelists Kelyn Bacon QC (Brick Court Chambers), Lorand Bartels (Senior Counsel, Linklaters and Reader in International Law, Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge), Victoria Hewson (Institute of Economic Affairs) George Peretz QC (Monckton Chambers), Dr. Ulrich Soltész (Partner, Gleiss Lutz, Brussels) and partner James Webber (London- Antitrust) will be discussing the legal and policy issues surrounding a domestic UK anti-subsidy/State aid regime.

Partner James Webber (London-Antitrust) will speak at the EU Competition Law 2020 Dublin conference organized by Knect365 on February 26, 2020. James will participate in the panel “State Aid and Tax,” together with Leo Flynn (European Commission Legal Service) and Geoffrey Dunne (Enterprise Ireland).

The first wave of discussion about the impact of COVID-19 on EU merger control was very much on the practical and procedural. What, impact if any, will the response to this crisis have on the substantive assessment of mergers going forward?

The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak has, at least temporarily, reshaped the way that many companies do business. Nevertheless, companies must continue to be vigilant about compliance with the antitrust laws and understand that the U.S. antitrust agencies will continue to scrutinize their behavior during this period (although EU competition authorities have taken an arguably more permissive approach, while maintaining that overt cartels at the expense of consumers will not be tolerated).

Member States of the EU and the U.K. are announcing massive support packages for companies affected by the coronavirus crisis. These interventions are on a vast scale. Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, the measures we are seeing this week are predominantly fiscal rather than monetary policy responses. The British Government announced today it will do “whatever it takes” to get businesses through the crisis, including an initial package of £330bn of government-back loans and guarantees to all businesses, as well as cash grants of £25,000 to hospitality sector businesses which don’t have insurance for pandemics such as coronavirus. Additionally, all businesses in the hospitality sector will pay no business rates for 12 months.