Overview of merger control activity during the last 12 months
2014 seems to have marked a slight decline in the number of mergers notified to the Israeli Antitrust Authority (“the IAA”), from 161 merger notifications filed in 2013 to 149 merger notifications in 2014. This figure is lower than the average number of merger notifications filed during the peak of the global economic crisis (in the years 2008-2010), and is only slightly higher than the record-low of merger notifications in 2012. During this time, the relevant filing thresholds did not change, which indicates that the market has grasped the more conservative approach of the current Antitrust General Director (“the General Director”), and thus more complex antitrust transactions are abandoned before reaching the formal filing stage.