ByrneWallace: Irish merger notifications up 75 per cent since 2014 Act

Irish merger notifications have increased by 75 per cent since the introduction of new merger control legislation in 2014.

The figures are included in a new report published by ByrneWallace, which states: “It is clear that the changes to the merger thresholds have had a very significant impact on the number of transactions that now require notification.”

Only 81 transactions were notified in the 24 months prior to the enactment of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014, compared to 141 in the first 24 months afterwards.

Notifications in the hotel sector are up 900 per cent, motor fuel is up by 400 per cent, and there have been 13 acquisitions in retail and office property under the new regime compared to none during the 24 months prior to the 2014 Act.

Joanne Finn, head of ByrneWallace’s EU, competition and regulated markets team, said: “There are questions to be asked around whether the current merger thresholds are proportionate in their impact on business – less than 3 per cent of mergers move to a full phase two investigation, suggesting that the vast majority do not raise substantive competition issues.”