Merger notification thresholds revised

Late December 2015, the Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development published revised merger thresholds for mandatory merger filings. The new notice serves to clarify certain thresholds requiring notification to the Competition Commission.
According to a partner in Bowman Gilfillan Africa Group’s Competition Practice, Tamara Dini, “The revised thresholds are a positive development. Merging parties will not need to notify a merger to the Namibian Competition Commission if the combined annual turnover in, into or from Namibia of the acquiring undertaking and transferred undertaking is valued at N$30 million or less, if the combined value of the assets in Namibia of the acquiring undertaking and the transferred undertaking is N$30 million or less, and if the annual turnover plus the value of the assets in, into or from Namibia of the transferred undertaking, is N$30 million or less.
“In addition,” explains Dini, “a filing is not required if the annual turnover in, into or from Namibia of the transferred undertaking is equal to or valued at N$15 million or less, and the assets of the transferred undertaking in Namibia are valued at N$15 million or less.
“While the revised thresholds are still low, meaning that many small deals will continue to require notification, the Government Notice distinguishes between a threshold applicable to the merging parties on a combined basis, on the one hand, and threshold applicable to the transferred undertaking only. This was unclear in the previous Government Notice,” added Dini.