Mergers: Suspension of time limits (DK) and request for delay of notifications (EU)

The Danish Competition and Consumer Authority announces a 14-day suspension of time limits

The Danish Competition and Consumer Authority has today announced that the time limits for the processing of merger notifications have been suspended for 14 days as a response to the challenges caused by the COVID-19 virus outbreak. The statutory time limits laid down in section 12 d (1-5) of the Danish Competition Act are therefore currently suspended. After expiry of the 14 days, the Authority will assess whether to suspend them further. The suspension of the time limits appears from an order issued by the Danish Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, which is effective as of today, Wednesday, 18 March. 

The reason for suspending the time limits is that the Authority in connection with the review of merger notifications may face difficulties in contacting third parties in connection with the assessment of the transaction, including customers and competitors of the merging companies, which may considerably affect the final decision. The Authority explains that such problems will increase the risk of making substantively incorrect decisions, thereby prohibiting mergers that ought to have been approved or approving mergers that ought to have been prohibited.  However, the Authority will continue to ensure that the ordinary time limits are met as far as possible.

Companies should therefore pay particular attention to these challenges prior to any filing of a final merger notification with the competition authorities; this should also be taken into account in ongoing processes. Furthermore, the Competition and Consumer Authority encourages companies wishing to merge to contact the Authority well in advance.

COVID-19 causes difficulties in the Commission's casework as well

The European Commission also faces delays in the processing of merger notifications due to COVID-19. The reason for this is that it is difficult for the Commission to collect information from customers, competitors and suppliers for the pur-pose of assessing the mergers. In addition, the Commission faces limitations in terms of access to information and data-bases following the introduction of remote working measures. All in all, the processing of merger notifications has been challenged by the COVID-19 outbreak, so the Commission encourages companies to delay merger notifications originally planned until further notice, where possible. However, the measures taken by the Commission do not appear to be quite as comprehensive as those taken by the Danish Competition Authority, considering the fact that the statutory time limits remain unchanged.

However, the measures taken by the Commission are not as comprehensive as those taken by the Danish competition authorities, because apparently the statutory time limits remain unchanged.

The Commission extraordinarily encourages that documents are submitted in digital rather than physical format

The Commission temporarily accepts that documents are submitted in digital format rather than the usual physical documents. Companies are still allowed to deliver the physical documents, but the Commission encourages them to use the temporary electronic solution instead.

Update: 14-day extension of the suspension of merger time limits

On 30 March 2020, the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority announced that the merger control time limits would be suspended for an additional 14-day period. The extended suspension period now runs until 13 April 2020, just after Easter. The reason for the extension is that the Government has also extended its measures to prevent and contain the COVID-19 outbreak. The Authority emphasizes, however, that it will endeavour to ensure that the ordinary time limits are met to the extent possible. 

Updated 1 April 2020