Proposed amendments to the merger thresholds and merger filings

On 9 June 2017, Minister of Economic Development, Ebrahim Patel gazetted proposed amendments to the lower merger notification thresholds for compulsorily notifiable mergers, as well as the relevant merger filing fees, as follows:  

• It is proposed that the threshold for an intermediate merger will be met where (i) the acquiring and target firms have combined annual turnover or gross assets of R600 million or more (currently the merger threshold amount is R560 million) and (ii) the target firm has turnover or assets of at least R100 million (currently the merger threshold amount is R80 million). The higher thresholds for large mergers remain unchanged.
• It is proposed that the merger notification fee for intermediate mergers be increased from R100,000 to R150,000, and the merger notification fee for large mergers be increased from R350,000 to R500,000.

These proposed amendments are subject to written comments by interested persons.