EU to sharpen deal scrutiny as M&A activity surges to record levels

There is 'mounting political pressure on antitrust authorities' to more aggressively police big business

Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s antitrust chief, warned in a speech in October that the commission was planning “a series of raids” targeting any companies which may be colluding on prices.

Last year was a record for dealmakers. 

Now they face a reckoning, as antitrust and competition regulators across Europe scrutinise the boom in mergers that could see them extract concessions or even block acquisitions.