FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Malik Idri and Mathieu Relange, FTPA Avocats
1. Legislation and Enforcing Authorities 1.1 Merger Control Legislation French merger control law is governed by Book IV, Section III of the French Commercial Code (FCC), spe - cifically Articles L. 430-1 to Articles L. 430-10 (leg - islative provisions) and from Articles R. 430-1 to R. 430-10 (regulatory provisions). The notification thresholds set out in Article L.430-2 of the FCC were recently revised by the Economic Life Simplification Act ( Loi de simplification de la vie économique ) of 26 May 2026. The new thresholds will be applicable as of 1 September 2026. The French Competition Authority (FCA) applies its Merger Control Guidelines (the “Guidelines”), the last version of which dates back to 2020. French law also refers to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 of 20 January 2004 on the control of con - centrations between undertakings (the “EU Merger Regulation”): • Articles 1, 5, 4.4, 4.5, 9 and 22 of the EU Merger Regulation are directly applicable in France; and • while the remaining provisions of the Regulation are not directly applicable, the FCA interprets French law in line with the concepts defined in the EU Merger Regulation. Finally, the FCA considers the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the General Court, as well as the decisional practice of the Euro - pean Commission. 1.2 Legislation Relating to Particular Sectors Beyond general merger control, France maintains sector-specific regimes and foreign direct investment (FDI) rules that may apply to certain transactions. For FDI legislation, refer to 9. Foreign Direct Invest- ment/Subsidies Review . Specific Regimes In banking and insurance, acquisitions of qualifying shareholdings in credit institutions, investment firms, finance companies, insurance undertakings and cer -
tain investment vehicles are subject to prior approval or notification to the Prudential Supervision and Reso - lution Authority (ACPR), and the FCA may consult the ACPR in the context of an in-depth merger review. In the audiovisual sector, Law No 86 1067 of 30 Sep - tember 1986 and the rules enforced by the Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication (ARCOM) set specific restrictions on foreign ownership. Under Article 40, unless an applicable international agreement provides otherwise, an authorisation to operate a French language radio or television service broadcast may not be granted to a company in which foreign nationals hold more than 20% of the share capital or voting rights, directly or indirectly. Further - more, no foreign national may carry out an acquisi - tion that would bring the aggregate foreign-held stake in an already-authorised company above that 20% threshold. Similarly, in the press sector, Law No 86 897 of 1 August 1986 on the legal framework for the press imposes two distinct layers of restriction. • First, as regards foreign ownership, unless France has entered into an applicable international agree - ment granting foreign investors either treatment equivalent to that accorded to French nationals, or reciprocal press-sector rights, foreign persons are prohibited from carrying out an acquisition that would bring their stake, directly or indirectly, above 20% of the share capital or voting rights of a company publishing a French language periodical. “Foreign” is defined broadly to cover any company whose share capital or voting rights are majority- held by foreign persons, as well as any association whose majority of officers are of foreign nationality. • Second, as regards concentration, Article 11 of the Law provides that any acquisition, takeover or lease-management of a printed daily newspaper of general political information is void if it would enable a person or group of persons to hold, con - trol or manage, directly or indirectly, printed daily newspapers of that type whose combined circula - tion exceeds 30% of the total national circulation of all such publications, assessed over the twelve months preceding the transaction. This limitation
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