According to Section 13(3) of the Act, the Commission has discretion to require the parties to a small merger to notify the Commission of that merger, if the merger may substantially prevent or lessen competition or cannot be justified on public interest grounds. Merging parties may not take further steps to implement that merger until it has been approved or conditionally approved.

The Commission will evaluate whether a small merger requires notification on its own merits, within the guidance provided by section 13(3) of the Act. The Commission has published a notice that it will require the notification of all small mergers which meet any of the following criteria:

• at the time of entering into the transaction any of the firms, or firms within their group, are subject to an investigation by the Commission in terms of Chapter 2 of the Act; or
• at the time of entering into the transaction any of the firms, or firms within their group, are respondents to pending proceedings referred by the Commission to the Competition Tribunal in terms of Chapter 2 of the Act.