The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission
("Commission") has issued guidelines for notification of
foreign-to-foreign mergers. The 'Guidelines on Simplified
Process for Foreign–to-Foreign Mergers with Nigerian
Component' was published by the Commission on 13 November
2019.
Our understanding is that the Guidelines were issued pursuant to
the provisions of Section 2(3) (d) of the Federal Competition and
Consumer Protection Commission Act, 2018 ("FCCPA"), which
extended the application of the FCCPA to "... the
acquisition of shares or other assets outside Nigeria resulting in
the change of control of a business, part of a business or any
asset of a business, in Nigeria". In essence,
any merger between non-Nigerian entities that results in a change
of control of a Nigerian business will come under the
Commission's regulatory purview. Prior to the enactment of the
FCCPA, this was not the case.
