DENMARK Law and Practice Contributed by: Morten Jensen, Elise Ross-Hansen, Frederik André Bork and Paula Grønlund, Bruun & Hjejle
using the compulsory application form). A filing can either be submitted as a filing for authori - sation or a request for a pre-screening (where the Danish Business Authority decides on the isolated question of whether or not a company falls within the scope of one of the five particu - larly sensitive sectors). In unproblematic cases, the foreign investor can expect a decision within five to six weeks. Further, as of 12 July 2023, the rules stemming from the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (Regula - tion (EU) 2022/2560) apply, enabling the Euro - pean Commission to investigate and address distortions in the EU internal market caused by foreign subsidies. Key aspects in an EU (and Danish) context include: • mergers – mandatory notification of certain M&A transactions involving foreign subsidies; • public procurement – notification require - ments for bidders receiving foreign subsidies; and • ex officio investigations – the Commission can investigate foreign financial contributions even outside notified cases. Another potential restriction of foreign invest - ments includes the Danish War Materiel Act, administered by the Danish Ministry of Justice. The rules apply when foreign investors acquire specific rights over Danish companies producing military-designed equipment, firearms, ammuni - tion, explosives and related components. If an investment falls under this act, permission from the Danish Ministry of Justice is required. 2.4 Antitrust Regulations The Danish merger control regime is laid out in the Danish Competition Act and is based
on the principles of the EU Merger Regulation – hence why Danish merger regulation is to a large extent similar to the EU merger rules. The Danish merger rules are generally interpreted in accordance with EU law and practice from the European Commission and the European courts. The concept of a concentration (ie, definition of a merger) as well as the substantive test (the assessment of a merger) is equivalent to the concept and test under EU law. As under EU merger control, the Danish merger rules apply to mergers and full-function joint ventures that meet the thresholds for notifica - tion. If the thresholds are met, a standstill obliga - tion applies, and the concentration must not be implemented before the merger has been noti - fied and approved by the Danish competition authorities. Concentrations must be notified to the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority where: • the combined aggregated turnover in Den - mark of all the undertakings concerned is at least DKK900 million and the aggregated turnover in Denmark of each of at least two of the undertakings concerned is at least DKK100 million; or • the aggregated turnover in Denmark of at least one of the undertakings concerned is at least DKK3.8 billion and the aggregated worldwide turnover of at least one of the other undertakings concerned is at least DKK3.8 billion. Further, as of 1 July 2024, the Danish Compe - tition and Consumer Authority may review and require notification of mergers falling below the thresholds ( “call in” ) if the combined aggregated turnover in Denmark of the undertakings con - cerned is at least DKK50 million and there is a
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