Managing multi-jurisdictional mergers

When a business is acquired, when firms merge, or when a joint venture is established, it is necessary to consider whether the transaction will be subject to merger control rules in any country in which a party to the transaction is active.

There are merger control regimes in over 150 jurisdictions throughout the world, the vast majority of which require mandatory notifications to be filed if the specified thresholds are met. Penalties can be, and are, imposed on companies that fail to notify transactions and deals can be suspended until regulators have cleared them.

In many of those jurisdictions, a transaction cannot be completed until the relevant authority has issued a clearance decision. This requires advisors to factor in time delay where merger notifications are required and the impact that uncertainty may have on the deal.

If the transaction does fall within merger control rules, a notification to the relevant competition authorities may be required. This may be necessary even if there are no obvious