Important Changes In Merger Control Proceedings In Slovakia From 1 January 2012

Long-expected by the professional public and the business sector, the amendment to Act on the protection of competition amends certain provisions of the Competition Protection Act that have long been regarded as causing problems in the merger control process with effect as of 1 January 2012.

Under the legal regulation valid until the end of 2011, basically all transactions of multinational corporations with a presence also on the Slovak market were subject to merger control if their Slovak turnover exceeded EUR 19 mil and simultaneously their global turnover exceeded EUR 46 mil. In practical terms, the notification criteria meant any acquisition that such multinational corporation realised anywhere in the world, triggered a notification of the concentration to the Antimonopoly Office. Thus such acquisition could only be implemented after receiving the valid and enforceable clearance from the Office. The above also applied to transactions aimed at acquiring control