Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Merger control definition

What does Merger control mean? Merger control is the review of mergers, acquisitions and certain joint ventures by competition authorities to prevent anti-competitive effects and to clear, condition or prohibit deals. In the UK, it is governed by the enterprise Act 2002 (as amended). The competition and markets authority (CMA) may review completed or anticipated deals where a 'relevant merger situation' arises: enterprises cease to be distinct and either the target’s UK turnover exceeds £70m or the parties meet/increase a 25% share of supply in the UK (or a substantial part). Notification is voluntary, but the CMA can call in transactions and impose...

Kuwait Merger Control: Thresholds, Local Effects, Foreign-to-Foreign, Waiver Process, Filing Mechanics, Timelines, Standstill and Sanctions

Published by a LexisNexis Competition expert

Practice notes

Note—To check whether notification thresholds in Kuwait and worldwide are triggered, refer to Where to Notify.

1. Have there been any recent developments regarding the Kuwaiti merger control regime and are any updates/developments expected in the coming year? Are there any other ‘hot’ merger control issues in Kuwait?

From late 2020, Kuwait began a major overhaul of its merger control framework, which came into effect in the latter half of 2021. In November 2020, the legislator enacted Law 72/2020 on the Protection of Competition (Competition Law 2020). Among other amendments, it replaced market share criteria with turnover- and asset value-based filing thresholds. Additional clarification on the new regime was set out in Decree 14/2021 on the Executive Regulation to the Competition Law (Executive Regulations 2021). However, neither the Competition Law 2020 nor the Executive Regulations 2021 specified the notification thresholds. Those figures were subsequently determined by Ministerial Decree 26/2021, issued on 23 September 2021. Alongside the move from market share to turnover and asset value-based thresholds, the Competition Law 2020 broadened the scope of Kuwait’s merger control rules to capture foreign-to-foreign transactions...

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Dr. Nicolas Bremer

BREMER

Nicolas is a partner and attorney with the regional law firm BREMER where he heads the firm's Antitrust & Merger Control and Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) teams. He oversees the firm's Riyadh and Cairo representations and has extensive experience in advising international and domestic clients on merger control and antitrust matters as well as mergers and acquisitions and joint venture transactions in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and the wider Near and Middle East. He works in English, Arabic and German language. Prior to joining BREMER Dr. Bremer worked for different international law firms in Berlin, Cairo, Dubai and London. He holds a PhD, which he obtained working on the regulation of large-scale fresh water development in the Near and Middle East under international and domestic law. Dr. Bremer frequently publishes on the law of the Near and Middle East and...

Maryam Abdelgwad

BREMER

Maryam is a senior associate of the regional law firm, BREMER, and part of the firms Antitrust & Merger Control team. She specialises in competition and foreign direct investment (FDI) regulations of Kuwait and the larger Middle East, and advises international corporates on merger control and antitrust as well as FDI matters including investment protection. She works in English and Arabic languages....

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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