Competition Act And Investment Canada Act Review Thresholds Announced For 2016

The Government of Canada has announced the annual adjusted monetary thresholds for review of acquisitions involving Canadian businesses under the Competition Act and the Investment Canada Act for 2016.

Competition Act

Subject to limited exemptions, under the Competition Act, parties to a share, asset, amalgamation or combination transaction may be required to file pre-merger notification filings if certain financial thresholds are met.

With respect to an asset transaction, parties must provide the Competition Bureau with pre-merger notification filings if a proposed transaction exceeds two thresholds: (a) the size of the transaction; and (b) the size of the parties.

• "Size-of-Transaction" Threshold - The pre-merger notification threshold relating to transaction size for 2016 has been increased to $87 million from the 2015 threshold of $86 million. Therefore, this threshold will be met where the aggregate value of the target's assets in Canada, or the