Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

International merger control update: UK national security thresholds lowered; France's simplified procedure widened; Aruba introduces regime; global gun-jumping fines and COVID-19 review impacts (July–August 2020)

Published by a LexisNexis Competition expert

Practice notes

This month has brought into effect reduced notification thresholds in the UK for further markets with national security implications, the passing of legislation in Aruba to roll out a new merger control regime, as well as the release of updated guidelines in France that expand the scope of the simplified procedure.

UK—revised notification thresholds for additional national security sectors enter into force

The UK’s lower notification thresholds for certain additional sectors affecting national security are now in force. They apply to transactions in fields concerning the development, production or research into the following:

artificial intelligence,
cryptographic authentication, and
advanced materials.

For these sectors:

the 25% share of supply threshold has been revised so that it may now be satisfied solely by the target’s activities, irrespective of the identity of the acquirer; and
the target’s turnover threshold has been lowered to £1m (from £70m).

This update follows a similar 2018 change affecting other national security‑relevant sectors, namely (i) military or dual‑use goods that are subject to export control, or (ii) quantum technology, or (iii) computing processing units.

Comment: The intention behind these amendments is to bring smaller mergers in these areas squarely within the scope of the...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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