On March 18 2020 the Competition and Consumer Protection
Commission (CCPC) published their COVID-19
Temporary Merger Notification Process. As the CCPC are required to
comply with binding statutory deadlines when reviewing notified
mergers and acquisitions, they have set out some steps that
businesses can take in order assist them in carrying out their
merger review functions during these challenging times.
Delay Notifications
The review of mergers involves the CCPC collecting and assessing
information from a various number of parties. The collection of
such information is likely to be very difficult in the coming weeks
due to COVID-19 disruptions.
As a result of this, the CCPC is encouraging notifying parties
where possible to delay filing planned merger notifications until
further notice.