Page 518 - MOE ENGLISH PR REPORT - JULY 2024

The new law clarifies that economic concentration (which means the dominance of a
small number of firms within a particular industry) is any act resulting in complete or
partial transfer (merger or acquisition) of the ownership or usufruct rights of property,
rights, equity, shares or obligations of an establishment to another, empowering the
establishment or a group of establishments to directly or indirectly control another
establishment or group of establishments.

The law takes into consideration the annual sales value of the enterprises concerned
and not only the total share of such enterprises involved in the economic concentration
process.

Two conditions must be satisfied to successfully complete the process of economic
concentration. The first condition indicates that the total value of annual sales of such
establishments in the relevant market, for the last fiscal year, shall exceed the amount
determined by the Cabinet, upon the minister's proposal. The second condition states
that the total share of such establishments shall exceed the percentage of the total
transactions in the relevant market during the last fiscal year, as determined by the
Cabinet. The Executive Regulation of this law establishes the controls for submitting the
application for economic concentration, the documents to be attached, and its
examination mechanisms.

The ministry said that companies can submit their views on the Application for
Economic Concentration project and also provide any data or information that would
help study the request, in line with global best practices in the field of competition.

The ministry elaborated that efforts are currently underway to develop a more agile and
sustainable competitive system, including the launch of more pioneering legislation,
initiatives, and programmes to make the UAE a global hub for the new economy within
the next decade.

The law assigns new responsibilities to the Competition Regulation Committee as well
such as proposing the general policy for protecting competition and scrutinising issues
related to the application of the provisions of this law and making recommendations.

https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/uae-announces-new-competition-law-prohibiting-firms-
from-offering-very-low-prices