UK Mergers, Military And Technology

The UK's merger control regime is changing as of 11 June 2018 in industries that are sensitive to national security concerns. The main aim is to allow political intervention in even very small acquisitions by non-UK companies where there might be a concern around non-UK ownership and use of such technology.  

Two statutory instruments were made yesterday introducing lower thresholds to capture smaller transactions in three areas of heightened national interest: (1) military or dual use products subject to export control (2) quantum technology and (3) computing processing units (hardware and software). For such deals the target's turnover of £1 million is sufficient to trigger CMA jurisdiction or, alternatively, the share of supply test of 25 percent can be met by the target alone without the need for an increment.