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COMPETITION LAW: INPUT SOUGHT ON DRAFT AMENDMENTS TO SMALL MERGER NOTIFICATION GUIDELINES
- 15 August 2026
- Trade, Industry & Competition
- SA Legal Academy
The Competition Commission has called for input by 13 September 2026 on proposed amendments to the 2022 small merger notification guidelines. The notice concerned was gazetted on 14 August 2026 – well after close of business, with obvious implications for the commentary deadline.
According to the notice, ‘there are concerns that potentially anti-competitive acquisitions in digital or technology markets are escaping regulatory scrutiny due the acquisitions taking place at an early stage in the life of the target before they have generated sufficient turnover or accumulated capital and physical assets that would trigger mandatory merger notification as set by the turnover or asset thresholds’. This is noting revised, raised merger thresholds and related notification filing fees in force since 1 May 2026.
Against that backdrop, it is proposed that written pre-merger notification should apply to any small merger:
- where any of the firms entailed or firms within their group are:
- subject to an investigation by the Commission in terms of Chapter 2 of the 1998 Competition Act (prohibited practices), or
- respondents to pending proceedings referred by the Commission to the Competition Tribunal in terms of Chapter 2 of the Act, and/or
- where the acquiring firm’s turnover or asset value alone exceeds the prevailing large merger combined asset/turnover threshold, regarding which:
- the acquiring firm’s turnover or asset value (without including the target firm) must exceed the large merger combined turnover/asset value threshold, and
- the target firm must meet certain acquisition/investment-related criteria.
Please click the links below for more information:
- proposed amendments
- 2022 guidelines
Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch
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