News
Vice President Joshua White Discusses the Interplay Between UK Merger Control and the “Pro-Growth Agenda”
Vice President Joshua White participated in the panel “Assessing the Interplay between Merger Control and the ‘Pro-Growth Agenda’” at the ThoughtLeaders4 Merger Control Forum 2025 in London. The session was moderated by Peter Harper (Eversheds Sutherland) and featured panellists Becket McGrath (Euclid Law), Francesca Sala (Oxera), Ronan Scanlan (Steptoe), and Alex Williams OBE (UK Department for Business and Trade). The discussion explored the evolving role of competition enforcement in the UK, focusing on how the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA’s) recent approach to merger control aligns with broader government ambitions for economic growth.
Mr. White began by proposing a re-examination of how “growth” is defined in this context, suggesting that policymakers look beyond foreign investment levels toward broader indicators of economic growth. Referencing the work of Nobel laureate Philippe Aghion, Mr. White discussed the relationship between competition levels and innovation, highlighting the role of the latter as a driver of economic growth.
Turning to merger control, and reflecting on the UK government’s strategic steer, Mr. White underscored the need for greater transparency around merger review outcomes emerging from the CMA’s briefing paper process – insights which are typically not made public. He noted that such transparency is increasingly important, given the growing complexity of markets and theories of harm, and added that visibility into the CMA’s evolving thinking and areas of focus could benefit investment and enhance merger outcome predictability. Mr. White additionally highlighted the importance of balancing efficiencies in merger review as a mechanism for incorporating industrial policy considerations in merger control.
Associated People
Joshua White
Managing PrincipalMr White is a consulting and testifying economist who specialises in applying microeconomics and sophisticated econometric modelling to complex litigation and merger-related questions, primarily in matters involving the health care, financial services and technology industries. He has supported clients in various jurisdictions and industries in follow-on competition damages litigation, assessing overcharge, upstream and downstream pass-on and volume effects. He has served as a testifying expert in the UK Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber), the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal and the Amsterdam District Court on competition cases.
Mr White has supported high-profile companies with complex merger reviews across multiple jurisdictions, including in the Veolia/Suez, LVMH/Tiffany, Sika/MBCC and Eutelsat/OneWeb mergers. He has also provided evidence to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the European Commission (EC), including on behalf of clients involved in cartel investigations, abuse of dominance investigations and mergers. Mr White has also provided support to European financial and competition regulators in coordinated conduct investigations.
Mr White has extensive experience addressing competition and intellectual property (IP) issues in matters related to cutting-edge pharmaceutical products and FRAND licensing questions. As part of this work, he has supported a number of scientific and technical experts in front of courts and regulatory bodies. He also regularly supports pharmaceutical clients on competition issues around market access, pricing, denigration and competition from generic manufacturers.
Mr White has worked in a number of jurisdictions, including the UK, the European Union, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Belgium and the US. His writing has been published in an array of journals, including the Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, the Competition Law Journal and the Journal of Antitrust Enforcement, and he regularly speaks at international competition law and policy conferences.