Consultation outcome

Draft guidance on changes to UK merger thresholds

This consultation has concluded

Read the full outcome

Detail of outcome

The CMA has now published final advice for businesses following Government changes to merger rules.

Feedback received

Detail of feedback received

Responses to the consultation.


Original consultation

Summary

Consultation on draft guidance on the CMA鈥檚 approach to changes to the jurisdictional thresholds for UK merger control. The consultation closes on 12 April.

This consultation ran from
to

Consultation description

Update on the consultation

We have reviewed responses to the consultation and will publish the final version of the guidance when the statutory instruments to amend the thresholds come into force. In the meantime, if companies think that their merger may raise national security concerns (whether falling under the current or the amended thresholds), they should contact the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy NSIIReview@beis.gov.uk and the CMA mergers.intelligence@cma.gsi.gov.uk.

Consultation

We are inviting views on the CMA鈥檚 draft guidance on changes to the jurisdictional thresholds for UK merger control.

The Government is proposing to amend the jurisdictional thresholds in section 23 of the Enterprise Act 2002 for changes in control over enterprises active in three defined sectors. The purpose of these changes is to ensure that the Government can intervene in mergers in those sectors which might give rise to national security implications.

The amended thresholds also apply to the assessment of whether the CMA has jurisdiction to review such mergers on competition grounds. The guidance is therefore intended to provide guidance on the circumstances in which merging parties may wish to notify mergers falling within the amended thresholds to the CMA for a competition assessment.

This guidance will supplement Mergers: Guidance on the CMA鈥檚 Jurisdiction and Procedure (CMA2), which provides further information on the CMA鈥檚 merger procedures.

It should be read in conjunction with the guidance issued by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy entitled Enterprise Act 2002: Changes to the turnover and share of supply tests for Mergers, and the Statutory Instrument: and its Explanatory Memorandum, which were laid before parliament on 15 March 2018. Subject to Parliamentary approval being obtained for that instrument, a second statutory instrument will be laid to make the proposed amendments to the turnover test.

Documents

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Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email general.enquiries@cma.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Updates to this page

Published 15 March 2018
Last updated 11 June 2018 show all updates
  1. Summary of responses, public feedback and detail of outcome published.

  2. Update on the consultation published.

  3. First published.

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