On 29 August 2017, Law No. 124 of 2017 entered into force and amended Section 16 (1) of Law No. 287 of 1990 (the Italian competition law) that provides for prior notification system of all mergers and acquisitions in Italy which fall within certain thresholds.

As of 29 August 2017, a concentration has to be notified to the Italian Competition Authority when it meets the new cumulative conditions below:

(i) The aggregate turnover in Italy of all undertakings involved exceeds € 492 million,

and

(ii) The individual domestic turnover of at least two of the concerned undertakings is above € 30 million.

The amendment is notable because the second condition takes into account the turnover of all other companies involved in the transaction in addition to the target company.

The change is likely to reduce the number of merger notifications in Italy. However it may although unintentionally also capture in the prior notification process joint venture transactions which would have otherwise not required notification.

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