Why Common Shareholdings Should Not be Considered in Merger Analysis

By A. Neil Campbell

A burgeoning economics literature has raised concerns that “common shareholdings” by institutional investors in multiple public companies may give rise to soft competition and the exercise of market power in concentrated oligopolies. However, the legal and practical relevance of such shareholdings in merger analysis has not been carefully considered. In most cases – at least under well-developed merger control frameworks in jurisdictions such as Canada, the U.S., and th