RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Competition approved 13 acquisition and merger requests during the month of February, according to a statement.
The figure reflects a drop from the 20 given the green light by the organization in January.
Last month, applications for acquisitions, joint ventures and mergers represented 75 percent, 20 percent and 5 percent, respectively, of the total non-objection certificates during the month.
Among the approvals issued by the General Authority for Competition last February was the establishment of a joint venture between the Saudi Telecom Co. "STC", Etihad Etisalat Co. "Mobily", and the mobile communications company "Zain Saudi Arabia" in providing big data analytics services.
In January, acquisition requests represented 85 percent, while joint venture requests made up 7.5 percent, and merger requests comprised 7.5 percent of the total decisions issued.
The approvals included Jahez International Co. for Information Systems Technology’s full acquisition of Marn Business Information Technology Co. as well as the National Security Services Co.’s partial acquisition of ABANA Enterprises Group’s assets.
The non-objection certificates also included the merger of Al Sagr Cooperative Insurance Co. and Gulf Union Alahlia Cooperative Insurance Co., in addition to Noon AD Holdings Ltd.’s full acquisition of all Namshi Holding Co. shares.
As of today, the authority is currently studying up to 30 local and foreign firms’ economic concentration applications which will be decided in the near future, according to authority spokesman Saad Al Masoud.
The Kingdom’s General Authority for Competition aims to adopt competition-stimulating policies, combat illegal monopolistic practices with a view to improving market performance to support the consumer and business sector confidence, contribute to investment flow and enhance sustainable development.
