Only certain mergers which meet the prescribed thresholds are required to be notified to the Competition Commission. The lower thresholds for qualifying as an intermediate merger and higher thresholds for qualifying as a large merger, together with their respective filing fees, have been increased as from 1 May 2026. The table below sets out details:
| Merger Type | Threshold | Old Threshold Value | New Threshold Value | Old Merger Filing Fee | New Merger Filing fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small | The combined asset value or annual turnover of the acquiring and target firm (whichever combination is higher); OR The asset value or annual turnover of the target firm (whichever is higher). | Less than R600 million OR Less than R100 million | Less than R1 billion OR Less than R200 million | Nil | Nil |
| Intermediate | The combined asset value or annual turnover of the acquiring and target firm (whichever combination is higher); AND The asset value or annual turnover of the target firm (whichever is higher). | More than R600 million but less than R6.6 billion AND More than R100 million but less than R190 million | More than R1 billion but less than R9.5 billion AND More than R200 million but less than R280 million | R165 000 | R220 000 |
| Large | The combined asset value or annual turnover of the acquiring and target firm (whichever combination is higher); AND The asset value or annual turnover of the target firm (whichever is higher). | More than R6.6 billion AND More than R190 million | More than R9.5 billion AND More than R280 million | R550 000 | R735 000 |
Deals which would previously have been classed as intermediate mergers may now not need to be notified at all, and those that were previously large may benefit from the less extensive filing requirements, shorter review timeframes and lower merger filing fees for intermediate mergers.
For advice specific to your transaction or to discuss how these changes may affect your deal, please contact our Competition Law team.