Philippine Competition Commission recalibrates M&A thresholds

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has recalibrated the thresholds for required notifications of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to keep pace with recent developments in the economy.

In a memorandum circular, the PCC raised the new thresholds to P5 billion for the Size of Person and P2 billion for the Size of Transaction, as defined in the implementing rules and regulations, from the previous P1 billion threshold.

The PCC through the circular also established the automatic adjustment of the threshold every year beginning March 1, 2019 based on the official estimate of the nominal gross domestic product (GDP) growth of the previous calendar year rounded up to the nearest hundred millions.

“The adjustment stems from various considerations, including the size of actual notifications to date, the country’s economic growth, overall inflation, and efficient use of the Commission’s limited resources,” PCC chairman Arsenio Balisacan said. 

“The annual adjustment based on nominal GDP growth ensures that the thresholds maintain their real value over time and relative to the size of the economy,” he added.

The PCC said it would continue to conduct regular monitoring of the M&A notifications and will revisit the threshold level periodically to make sure it is responsive to changes in the markets and the economy.

The thresholds are used to determine if a transaction triggers premerger reporting requirements to the PCC.

Parties to a transaction must notify the PCC if they satisfy two tests: Size of Person and Size of Transaction.

The Size of Person refers to the value of assets or revenues of the Ultimate Parent Entity of at least one of the parties, while Size of Transaction refers to the value of the assets or revenues of the acquired entity.

The PCC said it finds reasonable to increase the initial threshold provided by the Philippine Competition Act and its Implementing Rules and Regulations.

“Adjusting the thresholds requires a delicate balance to make sure that it’s not too low as to create an undue burden on business, and that it’s not too high that transactions with potential anti-competitive effects in the market evade the scope of mandatory antitrust reviews,” Balisacan said.

The PCC said the new threshold do not apply to mergers or acquisitions pending review by the commission, notifiable transactions consummated before the effectivity of the circular, and transactions already subject of a decision by the PCC.