Simpson Thacher deadline blunder leaves major client facing merger block

Filed appeal one day late

A filing error by US law firm Simpson Thacher has left a major client unable to complete its takeover of a UK catering business.

That client is Aramark, the US food services giant, which had sought to overturn a decision by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ordering it to reverse its purchase of Entier, a supplier of catering, cleaning and maintenance services to offshore sites such as oil rigs and ships.

In a judgment handed down this week, the Competition Appeal Tribunal refused to extend the deadline for Aramark’s appeal after finding that US outfit Simpson Thacher had sent the notice one day late. The tribunal said Aramark and its legal team had “mis-read the rules” when calculating the time limit for bringing the challenge.

The case arose out of the CMA’s decision in January ordering Aramark to reverse its deal with Entier. The regulator concluded that the acquisition combined two of the three main providers in the sector and risked substantially reducing competition. Under the tribunal rules, Aramark had four weeks to challenge that decision.

But that challenge never got off the ground. According to the judgment, Simpson Thacher told Aramark that the filing deadline was 5pm on Friday 13 February 2026 and that the notice of application would be filed a day earlier on Thursday 12 February. In fact, the correct deadline was 5pm on Thursday 12 February. The notice was eventually sent to the tribunal registry at 12.02 pm on Friday 13 February, and they declined to register it.

Aramark initially argued that the filing had in fact been on time, before accepting that the deadline had been missed and switching to an application for an extension. That application was backed by Simpson Thacher and later by Latham & Watkins, which Aramark brought in after the problem emerged. The company also sought a second opinion from Shoosmiths.

Tribunal chair James Wolffe KC was unimpressed by the attempt to rescue the appeal.
“I take fully into account the substantial prejudice which Aramark sustains by reason of losing the opportunity to obtain a review of the decision, and that the underlying reason why this has happened is an error by its solicitor in computing the time limits,” he said. “I do not consider that these are exceptional circumstances which justify an extension to the statutory time limit.”

Under tribunal rules, the CAT can only extend the time limit for merger appeals where the circumstances are exceptional. Wolffe held that a lawyers’ good faith mistake on the rules, even one with major consequences, did not clear that high bar.

The judge accepted that Simpson Thacher had engaged constructively with the CMA in the run-up to the appeal and that the mistake had not been cynical or casual. But he said the rules in this area were strict, had been in place for years, and that missing the deadline by a day was still missing the deadline.

Simpson Thacher has been approached for comment.