- New developments in Oman’s merger control regime
-
It is mandatory to notify Oman’s new Competition Protection and Monopoly Prevention Centre of any merger, acquisition or joint venture resulting in the creation of a dominant position for a person or group of persons.
The Centre, set up by royal decree in January 2018, has replaced the consumer protection authority as Oman’s competition regulator and is tasked with issuing regulations to implement Oman’s Competition and Anti-Monopoly Law issued in 2014. In view of the lack of regulation, combined with the Centre’s wide jurisdiction over merger control, the interim it is advisable for any company contemplating a potentially notifiable merger, acquisition or joint venture in Oman to enter into discussions with the Centre at an early stage.
Corporate/capital markets partner, Ardeshir Patel discusses what constitutes a dominant position, asset/turnover/market share based thresholds for merger control filings, effect on foreign-to-foreign transactions, and other key merger control issues in LexisNexis’ latest merger control guide.