Competition Authority averages 30 days to clear mergers

The Competition Authority cleared company mergers on average within 30 days of being notified in 2005, according to a study by McCann FitzGerald.

Of the 84 deals notified to the authority during 2005, all but one, the NTL/Chorus transaction, was cleared in phase one by the authority. However, the number of deals that required extended phase one investigations was up in 2005 to eight from three in 2004. The NTL/Chorus transaction was cleared by the authority after 163 days.

According to Gerald FitzGerald, head of McCann FitzGerald’s EC and Competition Group: “We find that clients generally welcome the opportunity to iron out any issues with the authority during an extended phase one investigation. The authority’s approach is quite practical and focused on working with the parties to resolve issues.”

The McCann FitzGerald study also found that the level of transaction activity was up by 3.5% in 2005 from 2004, and up 79% in 2005 from 2003. In 2004, there were 81 transactions notified to the authority and in 2003 that figure was 47.

The vast majority of the deals notified to the authority in 2005 involved the acquisition of a majority stake (90%), followed by joint venture/joint control (9%), and mergers (1%). In terms of the parties involved, most of the deals (39%) were foreign-to-Irish/Irish-to-foreign, with foreign-to-foreign deals amounting to 35% of the total and Irish-to-Irish accounting for 26%.

Of the deals that went to extended phase one investigation, eircom/Meteor was cleared in 98 days; SRH/Highland Radio in 87 days; M&J Gleeson/United Beverages in 83 days; Johnston Press/The Leinster Leader in 63 days; HJ Heinz/HP Foods in 50 days; Trader Publishing/Webzone in 45 days; Alphyra/Eason Electronic in 41 days, and Citigroup/Legg Mason in 41 days.