Ruling on an application by Stericycle International LLC and Stericycle International Limited (“Stericycle”) for a stay of its appeal, filed on 8 January 2007, under section 120 of the Enterprise Act 2002, for a review of a decision of the Competition Commission in relation to Stericycle's completed acquisition of Sterile Technologies Group.
The Tribunal declined to order a stay, preferring to extend the time for filing the defence until after the occurrence of a key date in the divestment procedure which had been agreed between Stericycle and the Competition Commission.
The Tribunal indicated that in general terms it is not likely to favour applications for a general stay in circumstances such as those in this case (where the parties hoped to implement an agreed remedy). The Tribunal would only in exceptional circumstances divert from its normal timetable. The Tribunal indicated that in taking this view its concern was to protect the system of merger control generally.
