Q3 Regarding Economic Concentration Request Figures, Announced

The General Authority for Competition received 77 applications during the third quarter, in which no objection were issued by the authority, with an increase of 8% over the previous quarter of this year.

The authority receives reports of economic concentration (mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures), then studies them and issues the decisions, it deems necessary.

It is also concerned with studying the market and sectors in the event of violations of the competition law, or to promote competition in various sectors.

According to the authority, it issued 38 approvals for concentration operations during the third quarter and issued 23 approvals for requests that were not required to be reported, while 16 requests are still under study.

Acquisition applications accounted for the largest share of the total applications for which an only letter of no objection was issued, reaching 28 applications out of 38 applications, representing 74%, while the number of merger applications reached 6 applications and for the joint ventures 4 applications.

Wholesale and retail trade topped the rest with 11 requests, representing 29% of the total requests, followed by the manufacturing industry with 10 requests, representing 26% of requests.

Since the beginning of the year, the General Authority for Competition has issued 99 decisions of no objection and 89 decisions after the obligation to report, and this is one of the largest numbers in the history of the authority since its establishment.