Revised Merger Notification Thresholds

October 2018

The obligation to notify mergers and acquisitions to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is subject to certain turnover thresholds being met by the parties involved.

Existing law requires a merger or acquisition to be notified to and cleared by the CCPC if in the most recent financial year:

• the combined turnover in Ireland of the undertakings involved is not less than €50m,

and

• the individual turnover in Ireland of at least two of the undertakings involved is not less than €3m.

Following a consultation process by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation in September 2017, a new Ministerial Order (S.I. No. 388 of 2018) was signed on 2 October 2018 increasing the thresholds to €60m and €10m respectively.

The criteria (which are not related to turnover) for the notification of “media mergers” remain unchanged.

Subject to confirmation of the Order by Parliament, the new thresholds will apply from 1 January 2019.

For more information, please get in touch with your usual Whitney Moore contact, Mark Ryan or any member of our Corporate team.