On 9 June 2017, the Competition Commission published proposed changes to the lower threshold used for calculating whether a merger has to be reported to the Commission for investigation and approval. The proposed changes involve adjusting the parties’ combined asset value and turnover thresholds from R560 million to R600 million and the thresholds which apply to the transferred firm (that is the firm which is the subject of the merger) from R80 million to R100 million.  In addition, the Commission proposes to increase its fee for investigating intermediate mergers by 30% from R100 000 to R150 000 and its fee for investigating a large merger by more than 40% from R350 000 to R500 000.  Although the merger threshold regulations were last amended during April 2009, the fee increase is substantial, particularly in an economy which has just gone into recession.

The draft changes have been published for comment.  Anyone who wishes to comment has 30 days from 9 June 2017 to do so.