On April 20, 2022, the UK government announced wide-ranging reforms to UK competition and consumer law policy, including significant threshold changes to the UK merger control regime. In particular, while the government aims to retain the UK’s voluntary and non-suspensory merger regime, the proposed reforms plan to expand the already extensive ability of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to scrutinize mergers. Helpfully for merging parties, however, the reforms introduce an objective, turnover-based safe harbor for small mergers by exempting those below specified turnover thresholds from review. The planned reforms were included in the Queen’s most recent speech, although the timing of their entry into force is still unclear. In this alert, we will explain the main merger control reforms proposed and provide some early details for dealmakers.
- Posted in: Regulatory
- Tagged in: Antitrust, Crossborder, United Kingdom
