AMENDMENTS TO MERGER NOTIFICATION THRESHOLDS AND MERGER FILING FEES EFFECTIVE FROM 1 MAY 2026

The Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition has published amendments to the merger notification thresholds and merger filing fees under the Competition Act, with effect from 1 May 2026.

The revised thresholds significantly increase the financial thresholds applicable to intermediate and large mergers.

Intermediate Mergers:

The combined annual turnover or assets of the acquiring firm and transferred firm has increased from R600 million to R1 billion while the annual turnover or assets of the transferred firm has increased from R100 million to R200 million.

Filing fees for intermediate mergers has increased from R165 000 to R220 000.

Large Mergers:

The combined annual turnover or assets of the acquiring firm and transferred firm has increased from R6.6 billion to R9.5 billion while the annual turnover or assets of the transferred firm has increased from R190 million to R280 million.

Filing fees for large mergers has increased from R550 000 to R735 000.

Category	Previous Threshold/Fee	New Threshold/Fee (effective 1 May 2026)
Intermediate merger – combined turnover/assets threshold	R600 million	R1 billion
Intermediate merger – target firm threshold	R100 million	R200 million
Large merger – combined turnover/assets threshold	R6.6 billion	R9.5 billion
Large merger – target firm threshold	R190 million	R280 million
Intermediate merger filing fee	R165,000	R220,000
Large merger filing fee	R550,000	R735,000