The recent Competition (Amendment) Act, 2023 (2023 Act), has introduced various changes to provisions relating to merger control in the Competition Act, 2002 (the Act). Notably, the 2023 Act introduced the Deal Value Threshold (DVT) as a new notification threshold. Under the DVT, a transaction will require prior approval of the Competition Commission of India (CCI/ Commission) if (i) the transaction value is more than INR 2,000 crore and (ii) the target has substantial business operations in India.
To further expand on the revamped merger control regime, on September 5, 2023, the CCI published the draft “Competition Commission of India (Combinations) Regulations, 2023” (DCR) for public consultation. The DCR includes new notification criteria of the ‘deal value threshold’, codification of the pre-consultation stage, reduction in the overall timeline for assessment of combinations, updated filing fees, the introduction of an intermediate time limit of 30 days for forming a prima facie opinion among other changes. The Dialogue is pleased to submit its comments on certain crucial aspects of the draft regulations
