Antitrust Update | January 2019

Major Amendments to the Israeli Antitrust Law

The Israeli parliament has approved major changes to the Israeli antitrust law:

• The revenues-based threshold of the requirement to provide notice regarding merger transactions to the antitrust commissioner, and to obtain the commissioner's consent for the transaction prior to its consummation, was amended such that the aggregate annual revenues of at least two of the merging parties which trigger the notice will now be NIS 360 million (as opposed to NIS 150 million until now).
• The definition of a "monopoly" which was based on a person's having a market share which is greater than 50% in the purchase or supply of a product or service, was extended to include "a person holding a significant market power with respect to the supply or purchase of goods or services". In the explanatory notes attached to the bill of amendment, it was noted that a "market power" enables the person holding it to influence the market