Irish merger control law has become centre stage over the past year. More and more international transactions have to be notified to the Competition Authority because of the relatively wide ambit of Ireland’s new merger regime in the Competition Act 2002. What are the lessons for lawyers internationally if their deal needs to be notified in Ireland?
Sixty-eight M&A deals have been notified to the authority since the 2002 act’s merger control regime entered into force on 1 January, 2003. None has been prohibited so far. Few cases were controversial but there were still some key lessons. The authority has handled notifications efficiently and worked well within the time limits set down in the act in most cases. This is useful in terms of predictability and the time-tabling of deals. It means businesses can normally count on clearance in roughly one month from the date of notification where the deal is going to be approved.
