90% of mergers cleared at first phase
More than 90% of the mergers notified to the Competition Authority in 2003 were cleared at the first phase, a survey has revealed.
Forty-three out of the 47 mergers notified last year were approved at the first hurdle, a study by McCann FitzGerald indicates.
The study also found that the vast majority of notified mergers were cleared in less than 35 days with only Microsoft/Placeware (51 days), Smurfit/Lithographic (50 days), and BASF/Honeywell (48 days) taking longer.
Of the three mergers that went to the protracted phase two of investigation, SRH/FM 104 took 105 days and was approved on condition of divestiture of assets, Stena/P&O was withdrawn after a 102-day review, while Dawn Meats/Galtee took 72 days and was cleared unconditionally.
The trans-national acquisition by General Electric of Agfa-Gevaert was the only merger referred to the European Commission by the Competition Authority for review under the EC Merger Control Regulation.
This involved a joint request from the national competition agencies of Germany, Austria, Greece, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Italy for the European Commission to review the merger.
The Commission passed the merger in December 2003.
According to Gerald FitzGerald of McCann FitzGerald's Competition & Regulated Markets Group, there are a number of important lessons to be learned by businesses from these results.
