UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Alex Saleh, Asad Ahmad, Khaled Abu Orabi and Khaled al-Khashab, GLA & Company
6. Ancillary Restraints and Related Transactions 6.1 Clearance Decisions and Separate Notifications According to the Competition Regulations, the Minis - ter issues a reasoned decision as follows: • clearance decision to approve the transaction if it does not negatively affect competition or if it has positive economic impacts on competition that outweigh the negative impacts; • clearance decision to approve the transaction, provided that the relevant “undertakings” comply with the conditions and obligations specified by the Minister; or • decision to reject the transaction. The decision should cover the transaction as a whole, including any related arrangements (ancillary restraints) that were part of the notification made to the Competition Department. No separate notifica - tions will be required in addition to the decision. The Minister may revoke the clearance if it appears that the: • circumstances under which the approval has been granted no longer exist; • relevant “undertaking(s)” has/have breached any conditions or obligations on which the approval has been granted; or • approval has been granted on the basis of mis - leading or incorrect information. In that case, the competent authority will take the appropriate legal actions to sue and prosecute the relevant “undertaking(s)” in breach. The Competition Department maintains a special record of decisions issued by the Minister regarding notifications for approval of “economic concentration” transactions. This record is not publicly available. These procedures are now supplemented by Cabinet Resolution No 59 of 2026, particularly the provisions on applications, formal examination, reports, monitor - ing and confidentiality.
The Competition Department is most likely to entrust the relevant “undertaking(s)” with preparing the dives - titure plan (if acceptable to the Competition Depart - ment) and with overseeing its implementation after clearance has been issued. However, there is no general preference for any type of divestiture. It is assessed on a case-by-case basis. There is therefore no standard approach to the condi - tions and timing of divestitures or other remedies. It will be left to the remedy arrangement agreed with the Competition Department or stipulated in the clearance issued by the Minister, including completing a trans - action before remedies are complied with. Failing to comply with the remedies may result in the clearance being withdrawn and/or a fine being imposed. The amount of the fine imposed will be at the discretion of the Competition Department. How - ever, it will have to be approved by the Minister and will be limited to the fine thresholds specified by the Competition Law. 5.6 Issuance of Decisions Decisions permitting or prohibiting a transaction are issued formally and notified to all concerned parties. Failure to issue a resolution within the statutory period is deemed a rejection of the economic concentration operation. Decisions are not publicly available and therefore cannot be revisited by the public for verification. There is a privity between the parties who are made aware of the decisions. This could be limited to the “undertaking(s)” or include third parties such as con - cerned UAE authorities and regulatory bodies or par - ties directly or indirectly affected by the decision. 5.7 Prohibitions and Remedies for Foreign-to- Foreign Transactions The authors are not aware of the Competition Depart - ment requiring remedies or prohibiting foreign-to-for - eign transactions, as this information is not publicly available.
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