CCPC welcomes higher threshold for mergers
The competition watchdog has welcomed a ministerial order that raises the threshold at which mergers and acquisitions must be notified to it.
Currently, a notification must be made to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) if the aggregate turnover of the businesses involved in the deal is €60 million or more and if the turnover of at least two of the individual businesses involved is €10 million or more.
Under the new rules, which come into force on 1 July, the aggregate turnover threshold will rise to €100 million, and the individual businesses threshold will rise to €15 million or more.
The CCPC had been calling for an increase in the thresholds, which were last raised in 2019.
Inflation
Commission member Geoffrey Gray pointed out that the number of merger notifications last year had doubled compared with the 47 notifications in 2019.
“The increase is driven by several factors, including inflation, which has meant that some deals now need to be notified that didn’t before, increasing regulatory burden on businesses.
“We welcome the revised merger thresholds, which will allow the CCPC to focus on high-value mergers that may impact markets,” Gray stated.
Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke said that he was signing the order after a “broadly positive” response to a public consultation on the issue earlier this year.
Ministerial power
Under section 27(1) of the Competition Act 2002, the minister has the power to raise the financial thresholds for mandatory notification of mergers by means of a ministerial order once a year.
The CCPC says that parties to deals affected by the change can choose to notify their merger to the regulator before 1 July or choose to not notify the merger after 1 July.
It adds, however, that merging parties cannot implement the merger before 1 July without obtaining clearance from the CCPC.
Mergers that have already been notified to the CCPC will not be affected.