Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 18) — The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) will soon fast-track approvals for mergers that are less likely to lead to a monopoly in local industries.
The regulator has laid out rules for what it calls an “expedited review process” which will take only 15 days, just half the usual time allotted for approving mergers and acquisitions for businesses operating in the Philippines.
The shortened review process is meant for “transactions that are less likely to substantially prevent, lessen, or restrict competition in their relevant markets,” the PCC said in a statement on Tuesday.
The shorter review period will be implemented starting July 2. Firms may apply for the speedy review process within 30 days after signing the definitive merger agreement “prior to any acts of consummation.”
“The PCC recognizes that a strong and vibrant economy stimulates firms’ appetite for business consolidation, corporate takeovers, and market expansion,” PCC Chair Arsenio Balisacan said. “The expedited merger review demonstrates PCC’s commitment in enabling a conducive regulatory environment for doing business while implementing its legal mandate of guarding against transactions that may substantially lessen competition in the market.”
Prior to this rule, all deals have to be decided upon by the PCC within 30 calendar days upon receipt of a merger application.
The PCC is the antitrust body that guards against monopolies in certain sectors, with their goal of providing more choices, lower prices, and higher quality of goods to the public. The agency has so far approved 174 deals and blocked one, a planned merger of two sugar mills in Southern Luzon. PCC earlier flagged the takeover of ride-hailing service Grab of its rival firm Uber, saying the move could jack up fares and lead to service deterioration.
To qualify for the faster PCC review, a merger must have no actual or potential overlaps or business relationship between the surviving entity and the acquired company.
Also qualified are global transactions where the local company being absorbed simply acts as manufacturers or assemblers of the foreign firm’s products. International companies which have “negligible or limited presence” in the country can also opt for the quick review.
Joint ventures created solely for the construction of residential or commercial real estate projects can also take the fast lane, the PCC said. This comes amid the government’s aggressive infrastructure push for its “Build, Build, Build” initiative.
The PCC said this was their contribution to the Duterte administration’s push to make the Philippines more investor-friendly. President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Ease of Doing Business Law in 2018, just as the Philippines continues to lag behind its neighbors in the World Bank’s annual Doing Business report.
