Morocco Introduced New Merger Control Thresholds

Effective 24 May 2023 the Moroccan legislator introduced new, increased merger control notification thresholds. While the increase in notification thresholds is welcome, the more relevant change is that the new turnover thresholds always require that the parties have turnover in Moroccan. While this change does not entirely resolve existing problems with a lack of local nexus considerations when applying the Moroccan merger control regime, it does show the legislator acknowledging the issue.

As under the old thresholds an obligation to notify a transaction under the new thresholds may arise in three scenarios including market share and turnover based thresholds. To trigger a filing obligation only one threshold must be met.