The Spanish Parliament definitively approved the Sustainable
Economy Act (the 'SEA') (Ley de Economía
Sostenible) on 15 February 2011. The legislation will come
into force the day after its publication in the Spanish Official
State Gazette, which is expected imminently.
The SEA introduces a major change to the Spanish merger control
regime. The SEA amends the current jurisdictional
thresholds for the application of the Spanish merger control rules,
which are set out in article 8.1 of the Spanish Competition
Act.
At present, a merger must be reported to the Spanish authorities
if any party controls more than 30 per cent of the market
– or will do as a result of the acquisition. The SEA
introduces a new de minimis exception to the mandatory
notification system in terms of which merging companies will not
need to notify a deal. This exception is to apply where the Spanish
turnover of the target company does not exceed €10 million
– provided the merged entity does
