The New UAE Merger Control Regime - Frst Experiences

In December 2023, the UAE legislator enacted a new Competition Law), which introduced—among other changes—the concept of turnover based notification thresholds. in early 2025 the turnover threshold was defined as AED 300 million (approx. USD 81.6 million) annual UAE turnover in the relevant market and the new regime entered into force end of March 2025. The Implementation Regulations to the new law are still pending. Hence details on the new regime are still unclear. However, during the first weeks of application the UAE authorities have provided some guidance on the application of new regime. This client brief provides some first experiences with the new regime.

Assessment of turnover threshold