The Singapore Competition Act (Cap. 50B) (the “Act”) was passed into law in October 2004. The Act has been brought into force in phases. In phase 1, the provisions establishing the Competition Commission of Singapore (the “CCS”) and the Competition Appeal Board first came into force, respectively on 1 January 2005 and on 1 September 2005. In phase 2, the provisions relating to anti-competitive agreements (the section 34 prohibition) and abuse of dominance (the section 47 prohibition) came into force on 1 January 2006. The merger provisions, which are also regulated by the Act, were brought into force as part of phase 3 of the implementation of the Act.

The Merger control regime of Singapore applies only to mergers that have occurred after 1 July 2007, i.e. where control has not passed or was not acquired or transferred before 1 July 2007. However, it is important to note that where the documentation in relation to the merger has been executed before 1 July 2007 but control has not passed before 1 July 2007, the merger would still be reviewed under the regime.

Although the notification of a merger is not compulsory under the Act, the CCS encourages merger parties to notify their merger situation when an indicative threshold is met, as this will suggest that the merger is likely to result in a substantial lessening of competition (SLC).

This chapter provides an overview of the operation of the merger provisions in Singapore.