UAE Law and Practice Contributed by: Alex Saleh, Asad Ahmad, Khaled Abuorabi and Habiba Wahdan, GLA & Company
3.11 Accelerated Procedure There is no short-form, fast-track or other type of accelerated procedure for reviewing the noti - fication. The process applies to any and all “eco - nomic concentration” transactions.
last fiscal year determined by the UAE Council of Ministers in line with the Competition Threshold Rules. An ”economic concentration” is created if the market share of the “undertaking(s)” exceeds 40% of the total transactions in a ”relevant mar - ket” of goods or services that are interchange - able based on their price, characteristics and usage in the “relevant market”. The Competition Department will therefore usu - ally identify the “relevant market” first and then measure the market share in terms of the aggre - gate turnover of the relevant ”undertaking(s)” and divide it by the total value of sales of the products or services pertaining to the “relevant market”. Total transactions is not defined under the UAE Competition Legislation but could be interpreted as meaning the combined annual turnover of the “undertaking(s)” from the total sales of the products or services pertaining to the ”relevant market”. 4.3 Reliance on Case Law Unfortunately, UAE merger control case law is rare and is not publicly available because of the high thresholds which causes the application of the Competition Law to be limited. Reliance is therefore heavily weighted on the interpretation of the UAE Competition Legislation up to the date of this guide.
4. Substance of the Review 4.1 Substantive Test
When determining whether the notification should or should not be approved, the Competi - tion Department will consider the following when employing the substantive test. • Actual and potential competition in the “rel - evant market”. • New “undertakings′” ease of access to the ”relevant market”. • The extent of the potential impact on prices of relevant commodities or services. • Whether there are systemic barriers affecting the entry of new competitors. • How likely the emergence of a “dominant position” in the ”relevant market” is. • The extent of the potential impact on innova - tion, creativity and technical competence. • The extent of the contribution required to promote investment or export or support UAE “undertakings′” ability to compete in the international marketplace. • The extent of the impact on consumers’ interests. These criteria might be amended once the new Implementing Regulations are issued. 4.2 Markets Affected by a Transaction Under the UAE Competition Law, the market share is the total share of the parties’ transac - tions as compared to the percentage of the total transactions in the “relevant market” during the
4.4 Competition Concerns Please see 4.1 Substantive Test . 4.5 Economic Efficiencies Please see 4.1 Substantive Test . 4.6 Non-Competition Issues
Foreign investment is restricted or prohibited in seven strategic sectors, according to Cabinet
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