Economic Concentrations (defined in the Competition Law as any act resulting in a transfer of assets, rights, stocks, shares, or obligations, including by the amalgamation of two or more managements into a joint management), must be submitted for approval to the GAC at least 90 days prior to completion of the relevant transaction if the total annual sales turnover of the participating entities exceeds SAR100 million. In response, the Board of the GAC may approve, conditionally approve, or prohibit an Economic Concentration. The parties may complete the Economic Concentration if the GAC provides written notice of its approval or if 90 days have elapsed since filing the notification with the GAC without receiving written notice approving or blocking the transaction.
The Z&Co. team of lawyers has worked on a number of Economic Concentration applications, including in relation to TasHeel’s recent disposal of 100% of its Middle Eastern visa facility management business and its 50% interest in VFS Tasheel, the outsourced visa services partners of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We are also currently working on the sale of several companies between two Saudi-listed companies which involves a formal application to the GAC for the resulting Economic Concentration.
