Finland introduces new merger control thresholds

The Finnish Ministry for Economic Affairs and Employment (“Ministry”) issued on 16 June 2022 a draft proposal (Esitysluonnos yrityskauppojen ilmoituskynnyksen muuttamisesta lausunnoille - Työ- ja elinkeinoministeriön verkkopalvelu (tem.fi), available only in Finnish) for new merger control thresholds in Finland. The draft proposal is open for comments until the 10 August 2022. The proposed amendments should come into force at the beginning of 2023.

The Ministry proposes lower jurisdictional thresholds for the obligation to notify and potentially expands the obligation to notify concentration in Finland.

According to the Ministry’s draft proposal, a concentration needs to the notified to the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (“FCCA”) if:

a) the combined Finnish turnover of the parties involved exceeds EUR 100 (instead of current combined worldwide turnover of EUR 350) and

b) each of at least two parties involved has a Finnish turnover exceeding EUR 10 million (instead of the current EUR 20 million threshold for domestic turnover).

Based on the press release, the Ministry has estimated that the annual number of notifications will increase by approximately 30 notifications due to the new jurisdictional thresholds. The draft proposal does not include the highly debated FCCA’s right to require notification although the jurisdictional thresholds are not met. This will enhance the legal certainty for companies active in mergers and acquisition as the obligation to notify is always based on the predefined jurisdictional thresholds.

For more information, please contact Katia Duncker or Petteri Metsä-Tokila.

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