Philippine Competition Commission Adjusts Merger Notification Thresholds

As required under the Philippine Competition Act (“PCA”), parties to a merger and acquisition with a specified transaction value are required to notify the Philippine Competition Commission (“Commission”) within 30 days from the signing of definitive agreements. Under the PCA and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (“IRR”), the Commission is empowered to determine the notification thresholds of proposed mergers and acquisition. In line with this, the Commission recently issued Resolution No. 04-2023 (“Resolution”) on 16 February 2023 which set out the new notification thresholds that will be effective starting on 01 March 2023. Previously, notification was required if the Size of Party exceeds Php6,100,000,000.00 or if the Size of Transaction exceeds Php2,500,000,000.00.

By virtue of the new Resolution, parties to a merger and acquisition are now required to provide notification when:

1. The Size of Party exceeds Php7,000,000,000.00; and
2. The Size of Transaction exceeds Php2,900,000,000.00.

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