Competition and Antitrust Bulletin
Canada's Competition Bureau to Publish Monthly Merger Reports
February 8, 2012
By Jay Holsten and Omar Wakil
On February 6, the Competition Bureau announced that it will begin publishing monthly reports of concluded merger reviews. The first report, for February 2012, will be published in early March.
Each report will contain a list of merger reviews concluded during the prior month in which the merging parties either submitted a mandatory pre-merger notification filing or applied for an advance ruling certificate. The report will identify the parties and the industry sector involved, and announce the outcome of the review.
In a few cases – in which the parties have not publicly disclosed a proposed transaction or have otherwise approached the Bureau on a confidential basis – the new monthly reports will raise strategic issues for merging parties. These issues include the timing and manner of parties’ approach to the Bureau and of any public announcement of their transaction. Although some merger parties are seeking to prevent disclosure by formally requesting that data not be disclosed in the merger registry, the Bureau is unlikely to accept such requests. 