Guidelines for merger analysis
Under Part 3 of the Competition Act 2002, as amended, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (the CCPC) is responsible for reviewing proposed mergers and acquisitions which are notified to us. Mergers and acquisitions which meet certain financial thresholds and other conditions must be notified to the CCPC. Following best international practice, the CCPC has established procedures for and published guidance on its statutory merger review function.
This document replaces the Guidelines for Merger Analysis document that was published by the Competition Authority in December 2013 (Competition Authority Notice N/13/001, 20 December 2013). Note that while the present document has been adopted by the CCPC and re-published as a CCPC document it does not contain any amendments to the Guidelines for Merger Analysis published by the Competition Authority in December 2013 (other than the substitution of references to the CCPC for references to the Competition Authority and the making of minor amendments to legislative references). In particular, the substantial lessening of competition test described in paragraph 1.6 of the Guidelines remains unchanged by the 2014 Act.
In September 2013, the Authority launched a public consultation on the merger guidelines, seeking submissions from interested parties. The submissions received are available below.
Following the consultation, in December 2013, the Authority published its revised Guidelines for Merger Analysis
Submissions
| A&L Goodbody | American Bar Association |
| Compecon | Francis O’Toole |
| International Bar Association | LK Shields |
| Mason Hayes Curran | Matheson |
| Paul Gorecki | PMCA Economic Consulting |
