On 1 June 2022, the European Commission (“EC”) unconditionally approved Oracle’ acquisition of Cerner following a Phase I investigation.
Oracle is a multinational computer technology company that develops, produces, markets and distributes information technology solutions, including infrastructure software and services, enterprise hardware and enterprise applications software. Cerner is a leading supplier of enterprise applications software and services specifically designed for healthcare providers, as well as clinical research solutions supporting life sciences companies.
Given the lack of overlaps between the companies' activities, the EC’s investigation focused on non-horizontal theories of harm. Among others, the EC considered the vertical link between Oracle’s relational database management systems software (upstream) and Cerner’s healthcare software (downstream). The EC concluded that the merged entity could not and would not engage in any anti-competitive foreclosure strategies.
RBB Economics, working alongside Clifford Chance, assisted Oracle throughout the proceedings and pre-notification phase.
