Germany Proposes New Merger Control Threshold to Eliminate Need for Pre-Closing Approval for Deals with Minimal Nexus to Germany

The German Ministry of Economics recently proposed amendments to the German competition law that would eliminate the need for a pre-closing filing and observation of the one-month waiting period for transactions that raise little or no competitive concern, which are presently notifiable. The proposed amendments would introduce a new German turnover threshold in the amount of €5 million (approx. $7.4 million), to be met by one of the parties to the proposed transaction (i.e., either the buying group or the target), in addition to the existing €25 million (approx. $37.2 million) German turnover threshold to be met by the other party to the transaction.

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