Philippine Competition Commission raises thresholds for deal notification

By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Reporter   

The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has raised the thresholds for mergers and acquisitions (M&As) that will require mandatory notification. 

In a statement, the PCC said companies will need to report M&As with a size of party that will reach P8.5 billion and a size of transaction that will hit P3.5 billion.  

The new thresholds have been in place since March 1. 

These were higher than the previous notification threshold of P7.8 billion for size of party and P3.2 billion for size of transaction, which were in effect from March 1, 2024 to Feb. 28, 2025. 

“Notifications filed before March 1, ongoing M&A reviews, and transactions already decided by the Commission will not be affected,” the PCC said in a statement on Wednesday. 

The PCC said thresholds for compulsory notification are adjusted annually based on the nominal gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the previous year. 

The Philippine nominal GDP, or GDP at current prices, grew by 8.8% in 2024, slower than the 10.4% pace in 2023, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed. 

The recent changes to the thresholds mark the eighth adjustment since the Philippine Competition Act was enacted in 2015.  

Sought for comment, Toby Allan C. Arce, head of sales trading at Globalinks Securities and Stocks, Inc. said that the recent adjustment could encourage more M&A deals. 

“These thresholds reflect the evolving economic scale of businesses operating in the Philippines, potentially driven by inflation, GDP growth, and market expansion,” he said in a Viber message. 

“This move could encourage M&A activity among medium-sized enterprises, as smaller deals might fall below the notification threshold,” he added. 

In particular, he said that the recent adjustment ensures that only transactions that are likely to have substantial competitive impacts will require notification, which may reduce the administrative burden on small deals. 

Mr. Arce said the PCC will now be able to focus its resources on monitoring larger transactions that may have a bigger impact on competition.  

“This strategic update suggests a balanced approach to fostering business growth while safeguarding competitive market structures,” he added. 

Meanwhile, China Bank Capital Corp. Managing Director Juan Paolo E. Colet said that the PCC adjusted the thresholds to make it more reasonable from an economic perspective. 

“The theory is that companies and transactions get larger as the economy grows, so the baseline for compulsory deal notification should be correspondingly increased,” Mr. Colet said in a Viber message. 

However, he said that he does not see the adjustments affecting appetite for M&A deals in the country. 

“Deals will happen if they make sense regardless of PCC notification thresholds,” he said. 

“Interest rates, availability of financing, business fundamentals and growth prospects, regulatory stability, and the government’s economic policies (are more likely to affect deals),” he added.  

To date, the PCC has received notifications for 328 transactions with a combined value of P6.27 trillion. These are mostly in manufacturing (57), financial and insurance (53), real estate (47), electricity and gas (45), and transportation and storage (32). 

In 2024 alone, it reviewed 17 transactions worth P784 billion.