Europees Hof verwerpt beslissing Commissie inzake de fusie tussen WorldCom en Sprint (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Brussels was wrong to rule against a takeover bid involving US telecoms giant WorldCom - now MCI - and its rival Sprint, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled today (28 September).

The two companies wrote to the Commission on 27 June, 2000, to withdraw their merger notification after Mario Monti - Brussels' competition commissioner - said he was prepared to block the deal in the interests of European consumers.

But the next day, the Commission moved to block the merger anyway as it said it believed the two companies still planned a tie-up.

The Luxembourg-based ECJ ruled that Brussels did not have the authority to block the deal after the notification had been withdrawn.

"Without ruling on the merits of the case, the Court of First Instance holds that the Commission no longer had the power to adopt the decision after the proposed merger had been abandoned", said the Court in a written statement.

This ruling sets a crucial legal precedent as it means that companies may now pull out of merger deals if they fear an unfavourable ruling from the EU's competition body.

The Court also ordered the Commission to pay MCI's costs.

One year after these events, WorldCom became the world's largest corporate bankruptcy following an accounting scandal.