On 12 December 2011, the Ministry of Commerce of People’s Republic of China (“MOFCOM”) announced its decision to approve the acquisition of the hard disk drive (“HDD”) business of Samsung Electronics (“Samsung”) by Seagate Technology LLC (“Seagate”), subject to extensive and far-reaching behavioural remedies. While both MOFCOM and the European Commission found that the market is worldwide, they reached radically different conclusions as to the transaction's competitive effects (with the Commission clearing the transaction without conditions two months earlier). MOFCOM’s willingness to reach such different conclusions to the European Commission and the more detailed analysis in its published decision are signs of MOFCOM’s increasing confidence on the world stage.
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