Mergers and acquisitions

Area of expertise

Mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and certain other transactions may be subject to a pre- notification obligation to the President of UOKiK, other national competition authorities or the European Commission.

Companies planning to merge, make acquisitions or create joint ventures should take their notification obligations into account from the very outset of a transaction. This will help them to submit a notification as early as possible and avoid a lengthy time of waiting for UOKiK’s consent. There are severe sanctions for executing a concentration that was notified or that should have been notified without the approval of the President of UOKiK (fines of up to 10% of annual turnover) and for providing inaccurate information in a notification (fines of up to the equivalent of EUR 50 million).

Experience

The Firm prepares notifications to UOKiK and, if necessary, to the European Commission, of proposed concentrations that meets the jurisdictional and turnover thresholds set out in the Competition laws.

Our proven experience in this area has enabled us to effectively combine the economic, organisational and legal facts needed to file a clear pre-merger notification and to secure timely approval for a proposed transaction.

Our recent experience includes:

drafting, for both Polish and international clients, notifications of a proposed concentration to the President of UOKiK and representing clients in such merger review proceedings;
representing clients in the following sectors: pharmaceutical, chemical, manufacture of machines for various industries, bulk agricultural product and foodstuff trade sector, the wholesale of daily consumer goods;
advising clients doing business in the following industries: fuel, construction, wholesaling of daily consumer goods, and a leading grocery chain;
persuading UOKiK to approve a notified concentration involving our client despite previously expressed concerns of UOKiK during the investigation (pharmaceutical market).

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