NORWAY Law and Practice Contributed by: Beret Sundet, Elin Moen, Olav Kolstad and Harald K. Selte, BAHR
BAHR Tjuvholmen allé 16 NO-0252 Oslo Norway Tel: +47 21 00 00 50 Email: post@bahr.no Web: www.bahr.no
1. Legislation and Enforcing Authorities 1.1 Merger Control Legislation Legislation Merger control in Norway is governed by Chapter 4 of the Norwegian Competition Act 5 March 2004, No 12 (the “Competition Act”). The following regulations related to merger control have been enacted. • Regulation on the Notification of Concentrations enacted 11 December 2013, No 1466 (the “Notifi - cation Regulation”); • Regulation on the Measuring and Reduction of Infringements Fees, enacted 11 December 2013, No 1465; • Regulation on the use of a trustee in merger cases, enacted 15 September 2008, No 1021; • Regulation on the exception from the stand still obligation, enacted 9 March 2009, No 292; and • Regulation on the process of cases for the Compe - tition Appeal Tribunal, enacted 14 December 2018, No 2031. Guidance The Norwegian Competition Authority (NCA) has issued the following non-binding guidelines related to merger control: • Guidelines on the submission of ordinary notifica - tions; • Guidelines on the submission of simplified notifica - tions; and • Guidelines on case handling in merger control cases.
Please note that, while these guidelines may provide useful general information on the notification and case handling process, the guidelines are non-binding, and the process is always adapted to the specifics of each case – eg, related to pre-notification, content of the notification, frequency of meetings and various sub - missions. 1.2 Legislation Relating to Particular Sectors The Competition Act and therefore the Norwegian merger control regime applies to all economic activ - ity and does not distinguish between different sectors. Some transactions may be subject to review from other Norwegian regulators in addition to merger con - trol review. For example, Norway has implemented a foreign direct investment regime (see 9. Foreign Direct Investment/Subsidies Review ). Furthermore, transactions in certain sectors, such as the energy and financial sectors, may require authorisation from sectoral regulators. These powers apply in parallel to the NCA’s powers under the Competition Act. 1.3 Enforcement Authorities The NCA ( Konkurransetilsynet ) enforces the relevant legislation in the first instance. The NCA handles merger notifications and performs the necessary investigations. The NCA can prohibit a transaction, grant a conditional clearance or take no action, thus clearing a transaction unconditionally. The ultimate decision-maker in the NCA is the Director General. The NCA’s decisions can be appealed to the Nor - wegian Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ( Konkur- ranseklagenemnda ).
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