trade, industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau has significantly raised the monetary threshold at which mergers must be notified to the Competition Commission, a move a senior competition lawyer said would speed up many transactions but risk leaving fast-moving technology and artificial intelligence deals beyond the regulator's reach.
In a notice published in the Government Gazette on 8 May, but effective from 1 May, Tau doubled the target-firm threshold for intermediate mergers from R100-million to R200-million, while increasing the combined annual turnover or asset threshold from R600-million to R1-billion.
For large mergers, the joint limit has increased from R6.6-billion to R9.5-billion, while the target-firm limit has increased from R190-million to R280-million.
Filing fees have also increased rapidly. In a separate notice, Tau increased the fee for filing intermediate mergers from R165,000 to R220,000, and increased the fee for large mergers from R550,000 to R735,000.
The amendment is the first revision of the limit since 2017. Tau has also updated the definitions used in the rules to refer to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), replacing the older Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (Gaap).
The changes are “very good news for local and foreign investors,” he said. heather irwinA partner specializing in competition law at Bowmans. Many transactions will no longer require notification to the regulator, he said, saving parties time and costs and avoiding the risk of “protracted negotiations” with the Commission over expensive public-interest commitments.
blind spot in tech
Irwin said the move is in line with the government's broader efforts to reduce red tape and make South Africa a more attractive destination for investment.
But he warned that higher thresholds could create a blind spot in the tech sector, where small and highly innovative companies – particularly in AI – are already subject to a wave of acquisitions.
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In markets like AI, where “acquisitions are already happening at a rapid pace”, Irwin said, “there was a risk that the Competition Commission would not review all but the most significant deals”. Given how rapidly the AI stack is evolving, “it's hard to know whether these deals could raise competition concerns”.
Irwin pointed to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) as one jurisdiction that has tackled the problem head-on, implementing lower notification thresholds for transactions involving digital markets.
The new limits would not change the course of the most prominent tech-merger investigation in recent years. Vodacom's R12.2-billion acquisition of a 30% stake in fiber group Maziv – parent of Vumatel and Dark Fiber Africa – would have triggered notification under both the old R6.6-billion threshold and the new R9.5-billion.
Notified in November 2021, the deal was blocked by the Competition Tribunal in October 2024 before being given conditional approval by the Competition Appeal Court in August last year after the Competition Commission. overturned its protest And the parties offered substantially expanded public-interest commitments.
These include Vodacom's R60 billion capital expenditure for 5G coverage, free fiber connections to schools and clinics and binding roll-outs in low-income areas. – © 2026 NewsCentral Media
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