Merger Control 2026

KUWAIT Law and Practice Contributed by: Alex Saleh, Asad Ahmad, Khaled Al Makhezeem and Liana Rashid, GLA & Company

• The value of the settlement must not be less than half of or greater than, the maximum penalty. 5.4 Negotiating Remedies With Authorities There is no formal initiation point for when parties may begin negotiating remedies with the authorities. The Kuwait CPA may propose its own remedy and may also impose other remedies within its authority, even if not agreed to by the parties. 5.5 Conditions and Timing for Divestitures There are no reliable sources of publicly available information on this issue. 5.6 Issuance of Decisions Formal decisions permitting or prohibiting transac - tions are made publicly available. The decisions of the Kuwait CPA are generally published on the CPA’s website. 5.7 Prohibitions and Remedies for Foreign-to- Foreign Transactions There are no reliable sources of publicly available information on this issue. 6. Ancillary Restraints and Related Transactions 6.1 Clearance Decisions and Separate Notifications There is limited publicly available information on this matter. When the Kuwait CPA grants a conditional approval, it will specify the relevant conditions as part of its decision. 7. Third-Party Rights, Confidentiality and Cross-Border Co-Operation 7.1 Third-Party Rights During the review process by the Kuwait CPA, a sum - mary of the application is published on the CPA’s web - site, in the official gazette and in two local Arabic daily newspapers. Every interested party is entitled to submit a justified objection to the Kuwait CPA against the economic

concentration application within 15 days of the date of notice or publication. If an objection is filed, the applicant has 15 days from the date of notice of the objection to provide its statements and documents in reply to the objection. The review process and time - frame are effectively paused from the time an objec - tion is filed until the Kuwait CPA reaches a decision on the matter. 7.2 Contacting Third Parties During the review process by the Kuwait CPA, a sum - mary of the application is published on the CPA’s web - site, in the official gazette and in two local Arabic daily newspapers. The Kuwait CPA is also permitted to notify persons it considers to be affected by the approval of the eco - nomic concentration application. These persons will then have 15 days from the date of being notified or the date of publication of the summary of the applica - tion, whichever is earlier, to lodge any objections they may have. 7.3 Confidentiality Recently issued Resolution No 33 of 2026 introduced a comprehensive framework governing the confiden - tiality of information submitted to the Kuwait CPA. Under this resolution, the Kuwait CPA has formally established applicants’ right to request that their infor - mation be treated as confidential, while also setting out a structured mechanism for assessing and deter - mining such requests. This Resolution distinguishes between “trade secrets” and “confidential information”. Trade secrets are defined as information of commercial value relating to a competitor’s business activity, the disclosure of which to the public or the transfer to another person not entitled thereto would cause harm to the com - petitor. This includes any information, design, meth - od, formula, technique or composition not known to the public that provides its owner with a competitive advantage. Trade secrets submitted to the Kuwait CPA must, in all cases, be kept confidential. Confidential information, by contrast, is defined as any informa - tion submitted by a competitor or a third party to the Kuwait CPA with a request to maintain its confidential - ity and includes financial data, technical information

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