Recent Developments in Austrian Antitrust Regulations The Austrian Merger Clearance Regime in 2022 – an up-to-date overview

Abstract

On the occasion of the implementation of the ECN+ directive, the Austrian legislator introduced some important changes to the Austrian merger rules last year, which are applicable to Austrian mergers as of January 1, 2022 (‘CCA Amendment 2021’ ). This article explains the amended Austrian merger clearance regime, focusing inter alia on the turnover thresholds triggering a pre-merger notification duty and the examination by the competent authority of whether a merger is going to get green light. It also highlights practical consequences in light of Austria’s direct foreign investment regime, an area of significant practical importance for foreign investment into Austria or with an Austria nexus, which has been interlinked by the CCA Amendment 2021 with the merger clearance process.