Increases to the merger notification thresholds under the Competition Act and the investment review threshold under the Investment Canada Act have been announced.
Competition Act
As published in Part I of the Canada Gazette on February 7, 2015, the pre-merger notification threshold relating to transaction-size for 2015 has increased to $86 million from the 2014 threshold of $82 million.
The Competition Bureau must generally be given advance notice of proposed transactions when the assets in Canada or revenues of the target firm generated in or from Canada exceed $86 million, provided that the combined Canadian assets or revenues of the parties and their respective affiliates in, from or into Canada exceed $400 million.
Investment Canada Act
In addition, the 2015 threshold for “net benefit to Canada” review of direct acquisitions of business (other than businesses engaged in cultural activities) for World Trade Organization member investors under the Investment Canada Act is $369 million, up from $354 million in 2014. The threshold for review for non-WTO member countries will remain at $5 million for direct investments and $50 million for indirect investments.