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EU competition round-up: UMG/Downtown conditional phase II clearance with Curve divestment; Aena airport deals, Aditya Birla JV; Danish emissions aid; PostNord state aid probe (13 February 2026)

Published on: 16 February 2026

Published by a LexisNexis Competition expert
Legal News
Table of contents
  • Mergers
  • State aid
  • Upcoming dates
Article summary

Mergers UMG/Downtown conditionally cleared after phase II

The Commission has given conditional approval to the proposed acquisition by Universal Music Group N.V. (UMG) of Downtown Music Holdings LLC (Downtown). UMG, based in the Netherlands, runs operations spanning wholesale recorded music, music publishing, merchandising, and audio-visual content. It owns and operates divisions active in these fields. Downtown, based in the US, is a rights management and music services business. It supplies artist and label (A&L) services to third-party record artists and labels, provides music publishing support to third-party authors and songwriters, and undertakes royalty administration alongside other ancillary services for third-party artists and labels. During phase II, the Commission concluded that the deal would not significantly hinder effective competition in the recorded music, A&L and music publishing markets in which UMG and Downtown intersect and overlap closely...

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