Industrial Strategy Post-Brexit: The UK’s Power To Block Mergers On Public Interest Grounds

On 11 July, Theresa May, the UK’s new Prime Minister, gave a speech in which she called for “a proper industrial strategy to get the whole economy firing”1. Mrs May noted US pharmaceuticals company Pfizer’s attempt to acquire AstraZeneca two years ago, a company she referred to as “one of the jewels in [Britain’s] crown”. Mrs May said the UK’s industrial strategy should be capable of “stepping in” to defend sectors such as pharmaceuticals that are important to the economy.