PCC adjusts thresholds for mandatory merger and acquisition notification

The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has released Commission Resolution No. 18-2022 (Resolution), which adjusts the thresholds for the compulsory notification of mergers and acquisitions. It will be effective starting on September 16, 2022.

Based on the Resolution, the new thresholds for the compulsory notification of parties to a merger or acquisition are as follows:

a) The Size of Party exceeds Six Billion One Hundred Million Pesos (PhP 6,100,000,000.00); and

b) The Size of Transaction [under Rule 4, Section 3(b), subsections (1), (2), (3), or (4), or Section 3(d) of the IRR, as the case may be] exceeds Two Billion Five Hundred Million Pesos (PhP 2,500,000,000.00).

The revised Size of Party and Size of Transaction shall also apply to joint venture transactions under Rule 4, Section 3(d) of the IRR.

The new thresholds were based on Philippine Statistics Authority’s official estimate of the nominal gross domestic product (GDP) growth of the country. These thresholds will provisionally be set until the Commission en banc approves of new thresholds for compulsory notification.