Philippines regulators want firms with huge M&A deals to report details

The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC), the country's antitrust watchdog, has called on companies involved in huge M&A deals to voluntarily submit their transactions for review. PCC Commissioner Emerson Aquende said these firms will not be exempted from the antitrust body's motu proprio review when the PHP50bn notification threshold will be lifted in September this year. The Bayanihan to Recover as One (Bayanihan 2) scheme has hiked the notification amount for M&A deals to PHP50 billion for the Size of the Person, which was only at PHP6 billion, while it also suspended the conduct of motu proprio review —an investigation on its own initiative— in the commission. According to the PCC, M&A transactions rose during the pandemic as struggling companies resorted to mergers and acquisitions to survive the difficult business environment.