Competition watchdog sees a 21% increase in merger notifications

There was a 21% increase in merger and acquisition notifications to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) during last year, with the professional services sector seeing the highest level of activity.

According to a new report from the commission, there were 82 mergers notified to the CCPC in 2024 — representing a 21% increase compared to 2023 — with 77 determinations being reached.

Of these determinations, 71%, or 55, were made under the CCPC’s Simplified Merger Notification Procedure (SMNP) and these mergers were cleared in an average of 13.3 days following notification.

Member of the CCPC Úna Butler said despite the increased merger and acquisition notifications in 2024, the “average time to review mergers has continued to decrease”.

“This is because more notifications were made under the SMNP than in any year to date,” she said, adding this enabled it to focus resources more effectively on those mergers which have the potential to raise competition concerns.

The professional services sector — which includes legal, accountancy, consultancy, engineering, and veterinary — saw 13 merger notifications during the year, which is the highest of any sector for the second year in a row.

This was followed by healthcare, with eight, followed by energy and utilities with seven.

Investigations

There were eight phase two investigations either progressed or concluded during the year. Phase two investigations were required in a wide range of sectors including car parks, aggregates, communications infrastructure, and retail pharmacies.

Of these, three were cleared unconditionally, one was cleared with remedies and one was prohibited. The remaining three were carried over to this year.

The one case that was prohibited involved the attempted purchase of the former Quickpark carpark site at Dublin Airport by Dublin Airport operator Daa.

Daa had been seeking to take control of the car park due to the lack of spaces available around the airport for passengers.

However, the CCPC’s investigation found the deal would substantially lessen competition in car parking services at Dublin Airport.

Chair of the CCPC Brian McHugh said that if the privately owned QuickPark carpark at Dublin airport had been sold to Daa “that would have given them 90% of the market”.

“Clearly that level of market share is bad for consumers. Our investigation showed that Daa responded to competition from QuickPark and that prices were kept competitive as a result. We also found evidence of a number of credible potential buyers, all of whom intended to operate the site as a carpark,” he said.

The CCPC announced its decision to block the purchase in March last year. The car park, which can accommodate more than 6,000 cars, is reportedly set to open under a different operator next month.

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