Global Competition Law is primarly a practitioner's guide presenting the most salient aspects of the major competition laws country by country, giving an overview of their structure and most charasteristic elements.
Global Competition Law also provides insight into possible future developments in the field.

Global Competition Law

The provisions relating to mergers may be found in Sections 54 to 60B of the Act. The Competition (Notification) Regulations 2007, the Guidelines on the Substantive Assessment of Mergers of December 2016 and the Guidelines on Merger Procedures of July 2012 supplement the provisions of the Act.

The Section 54 prohibition may apply even where the merger takes place outside of Singapore, or where any party to the merger is located outside Singapore, so long as the substantial lessening of competition is within any market in Singapore.

Context

Section 54(2) of the Act provides that a merger occurs where:

- two or more undertakings, previously independent of each other, merge;

- one or more persons or other undertakings acquire direct or indirect control of the whole or part of one or more other undertakings; or

- one undertaking acquires the assets (including goodwill), or a substantial part of the assets, of another undertaking, with the result that the acquiring undertaking is placed in a position to replace or substantially replace the second undertaking in the business (or the part concerned of the business) in which the second undertaking was engaged immediately before the acquisition.

An undertaking that buys or proposes to buy a majority stake in another undertaking is the most obvious example of a merger. However, the transfer or pooling of assets may also give rise to a merger. The Act also provides that the creation of a joint venture to perform, on a lasting basis, all the functions of an autonomous economic entity, constitutes a merger.

Concept of concentration

  Section 54 prohibits mergers that have resulted or may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within any market in Singapore for goods or services, unless the merger falls within an exclusion in the Fourth Schedule, or is exempted by the Minister on the grounds of any public interest consideration.

Global Competition Law

1239. Context

1240. Concept of concentration

1241. Control criteria