Journalist Kim Bielenberg at Thornton’s Recycling Plant in Parkwest Business Park, Dublin.Photo: Steve Humphries
The Irish Competition Authority assessed 68 acquisition or merger deals in 2023, the same number as the previous year, despite the global M&A recession.
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) will rule out mergers involving two parties where the parties involved have a turnover in Ireland of at least €60 million and their separate turnover in Ireland is €10 million or more. Or you need to evaluate an acquisition.
All media sector transactions are also subject to review.
The CCPC said just over half of the cases disposed of in 2023 were approved under the expedited merger notification procedure, which applies when a merger does not raise competition concerns and can be completed in as little as 15 business days.
The majority of other cases have been fully evaluated under standard Phase 1 investigations, including 14 cases that were the subject of expanded Phase 1 investigations.
In two cases, the transactions were approved in Phase 1 following commitments by the parties to implement competition-enhancing measures.
Only five transactions were subject to a more intensive Phase 2 investigation, two of which were allowed to proceed without change.
In the takeover of The City Bin by rival Thorntons Recycling, the deal was given the go-ahead on the condition that part of Dublin’s waste collection routes would be sold.
Two further incidents, both related to parking lots, were also subject to increased scrutiny.
Parking lot operator Q Park has been given the green light to acquire rival Park Rite owner Tazbell on the condition that some operations be transferred to a third party, but airport operator DAA Plans to acquire additional surface parking at Dublin Airport remain in the regulatory process. .
None of the notifiable media transactions during the year were subject to scrutiny beyond Phase 1.
A list of related media deals includes: Irish independent Owner media house acquires publication specializing in EU issues Euractic and a number of takeover cases in Ireland and abroad involving Bauer Media, owners of Today FM and Newstalk.
Globally, the M&A market suffered a significant downturn in 2023. This is because rising interest rates have alleviated concerns about an oversupply of cheap acquisition funds and a decline in risk appetite among many corporate executives due to the economic downturn.