New Egyptian Merger Control Regime

The long-anticipated overhaul of the Egyptian merger control regime introduces a preclosing notification regime

On 30 December 2022 the amendments of the Egyptian Competition Law approved by the Egyptian House of Representatives on 6 December 2022 entered into force. The pre-closing notification merger control regime introduced with these amendments applies to all transactions signed on or after 30 December 2022. Transactions closed or signed but not closed before 30 December 2022 remain subject to the old post-closing notification regime.

The amendments entering into force marks a significant step in the long-awaited overhaul of the Egyptian antitrust and merger control regimes. Since 2017 the country has been debating several amendments to the antitrust and merger control regime, a process that has been interrupted by crises and has kept the antitrust community eying Egypt in anticipation. The process gained some movement again in late 2021 when the House