The Italian Competition Authority published new merger control thresholds.
As of 10 March 2014, a concentration must be notified to the Italian Competition Authority when it meets both conditions below:
- The combined aggregate domestic turnover of all undertakings exceeds € 489 million, and
- The aggregate domestic turnover of the target undertaking exceeds € 49 million.
An earlier reform made the thresholds cumulative as of January 1, 2013. Since then, merger notifications in Italy have decreased drastically. Their number fell by about 90% in 2013.
The decrease in merger work is expected allow the Italian Competition Authority to focus on larger merger cases and cartel work. Law firms that have extensively engaged in commoditized merger work may seek to substitute it with other work and may end up encouraging leniency applications and private litigation. Both leniency and private litigation are areas that have not been extensively explored in Italy until present.
For further information on this topic please contact
Andrea De Matteis
by telephone +39 06 983 78 412
or email adematteis@dematteislex.com