SAUDI ARABIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Alex Saleh, Asad Ahmad, Omar Halbouni and Shahad Al-Humaidani, GLA & Company
3.8 Pre-Notification Discussions With Authorities The GAC is generally available for discussions with parties or their representatives before the formal noti - fication of an economic concentration transaction. Pre-notification discussions are entirely voluntary and at the parties’ discretion. The GAC will not conduct pre-notification discussions on a hypothetical basis or without knowing the identities of the parties and markets. To request a pre-notification discussion, the parties or their representatives should provide the fol - lowing information to the GAC: • the names and contact information of the econom - ic concentration parties and their representatives (if any); • the type of transaction; • the markets or goods and services affected by the proposed transaction; and • the possible impact of the transaction on competi - tion in general terms. It is generally recommended that this information be provided as a brief, confidential memorandum to the GAC, thus making the pre-notification process more efficient. Pre-notification discussions are encouraged by the GAC and treated as strictly confidential. 3.9 Requests for Information During the Review Process The information requested during the review process includes: • documents, records, data, files, specific written information and other information that the GAC considers relevant to its review of the transaction; • the information from other parties, including from competitors, other stakeholders and the general public; • the GAC may similarly accept information that has been offered voluntarily by other parties; and • the GAC may require any of the economic con - centration parties or other parties to provide it with market information to evaluate the effects of the economic concentration on competition.
investigation, they will be fined up to 5% of the total annual sales turnover or SAR5 million, where it is impossible to estimate the annual sales. 3.7 Review Process The economic concentration must be notified to the GAC at least 90 days before the completion of the economic concentration. The applicant’s notification submission will be considered complete when they have satisfied the conditions for notification, includ - ing providing the required information and documents. The 90-day regulatory review period will begin on the date the GAC informs the applicant that the notifica - tion submission is complete. The regulatory review period may be suspended when: • the GAC requests any information or documents from the applicants. It may suspend the regulatory review period from the date when it requests the information or documents, to the date when the applicant provides the requested information or documents; or • the GAC finds that the economic concentration parties or their representatives have provided incorrect information or failed to submit avail - able information to the GAC within the prescribed period. A case team will be appointed to conduct a review and investigation of economic concentration during the 90-day period. Once the case team has completed its review, it will submit a detailed note outlining its opinion to the GAC’s board of directors. The board will evaluate the case team’s opinion, taking into account all relevant factors and the objectives under the KSA Competition Law and the Implementing Regulations. The board will issue a decision in one of the following ways: • approval of the economic concentration applica - tion; • refusal of the economic concentration application, where the decision will be accompanied by a state - ment of reasons; or • approval of the economic concentration, subject to conditions determined by the board, with the deci - sion accompanied by a statement of reasons.
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