EU Clarifies Conditions for Merger Withdrawals

Forbes: The European Commission has clarified conditions for the withdrawal of a merger notification by companies who change the terms of their deal or who abandon it altogether...With respect to Microsoft and Time Warner's acquisition of ContentGuard and the subsequent EU probe which was eventually dropped, "Companies must now provide a binding agreement to cancel their merger plans and proof that any letter of intent or memorandum of understanding has been cancelled. If a public bid has been made, a public announcement must be made terminating the bidding procedure."