Bonn, 5 December 2013: The Bundeskartellamt has published a draft of its guidance document “Domestic Effects in Merger Control” for public consultation.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: “We aim to relieve concentrations that do not affect Germany of unnecessary bureaucracy. The guidance document provides companies with clear rules and increases legal certainty. Ultimately, we want to avoid the need for mergers without significant effects in Germany to be notified to and reviewed by the Bundeskartellamt.”

The Bundeskartellamt examines more than 1,000 concentrations each year. Proposed mergers have to be notified to the Bundeskartellamt depending on the nature of the transactions and the turnover of the merging parties. The guidance document is designed to help companies and their advisers assess whether a proposed concentration fulfils the requirements of the domestic effects clause in the German Act against Restraints of Competition. The domestic effects clause is one part of the procedural rules in merger control which determine whether a proposed concentration is subject to notification in Germany.