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FNE reinforces merger control regime with new horizontal merger guidelines and prenotification guidance

13 / 05 / 2021

On May 12the FNE launched a new version of the Horizontal Merger Guidelines and a Prenotification Guidance, reinforcing and updating the Chilean merger control regime in force since 2017.

The updated Horizontal Merger Guidelines was issued as a draft open for public consultation until June 11, 2021, in order to gather the opinions of the competition fora as to ensure that the new guidelines provide more certainty and predictability to the market regarding the framework used by the FNE when analyzing the competitive effects of horizontal mergers.

The Guidelines includes the criteria the FNE will rely in the competitive analysis of mergers involving platforms and digital markets, addressing the criteria to be applied regarding innovation and dynamic competition.

Additionally, the new Horizontal Merger Guidelines incorporates key cases throughout the different topics addresses by the Guidelines, evidencing the experience of the FNE and courts in merger control.

Comments about the content of the Guidelines are welcomed and must be send to: guiasfusiones@fne.gob.cl

Pre-Notification Procedure manual

The FNE also launched a Prenotification Guidance, that formalizes the currently existing proceeding, which allows undertakings to approach the antitrust regulator, on a voluntary basis and prior to their notification of their transaction, in order to solve queries and discuss any issues regarding an eventual notification.

The objective of the Guidance is to  promote parties to approach the FNE and therefore, speed-up the merger control assessment  and proceedings. The Guidance provides conditions and deadlines for the FNE to solve the parties’ queries, and lays down the principles that shall rule the procedure: voluntariness, informality, collaboration and confidentiality, and appoints an FNE official who will be in charge of this procedure.

The Guidance also establishes that the FNE may provide a letter indicating that a particular transaction is not a “concentration”, according to the Chilean Competition Law, according to the sufficiency of information provided in the Prenotification procedure. This is intended to provide certainty to undertakings and prevent the filing of transactions which are not notifiable.