“In 2024 the pre-merger notification threshold relating to transaction size will remain unchanged following a decision by the [federal] Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry to maintain the current threshold of $93 million,” the bureau announced Feb. 28, 2024.
Competition Commissioner Matthew Boswell
Under the Competition Act mergers of all sizes and in all sectors of the economy may be reviewed by the commissioner.
But the Competition Bureau must generally be given advance notice of proposed transactions when the target's assets in Canada, or revenues from sales in or from Canada generated from those assets, exceed $93 million, and when the combined Canadian assets or revenues of the parties and their respective affiliates in, from, or into, Canada exceed $400 million.
Under the Act, the industry minister reviews, and may adjust, the threshold annually.
The federal Department of Finance said “with this freeze, the Competition Bureau will automatically review all transactions above $93 million in value, with a focus on preventing mergers that would substantially prevent or lessen competition.”
The finance department said in a Feb. 27 media release that freezing the merger transaction-size threshold at $93 million “is the latest part of the federal government’s plan to strengthen competition in Canada, which also includes amendments to the Competition Act through Bills C-56 and C-59 and increasing the Competition Bureau’s budget, amongst other measures to lower prices for Canadians.”
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