Antitrust body eyes higher M&A threshold

The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) wants to raise the notification threshold for mergers and acquisitions above the current P1-billion requirement, citing the current growth of the economy among other factors.

Competition Chair Arsenio Balisacan said in a forum on Wednesday that a group inside the antitrust body was working on the proposal, which is expected to be proposed to the commissioners sometime in the first half of this year.

Under current rules, companies that would undergo a merger or acquisition need to notify the PCC for approval if the value goes beyond P1 billion, especially since the deal might impact the market. PCC computes the P1 billion threshold based on certain standards that the parties must meet, such as if one of the companies involved is valued over a billion pesos.

“The threshold has been around for sometime. We have to take into account the changing structure of the economy, the rate of growth, the inflation [among others]. The law provides the power to PCC to update the threshold,” he told reporters at the sidelines of the forum.

He said one of the considerations raised was the possibility of having varying thresholds depending on the industry.