Industry Canada and the Competition Bureau Announce New Review Thresholds for 2015

On February 2, 2015, the Competition Bureau announced the 2015 size of transaction pre-merger notification threshold under the Competition Act would increase to $86 million; the 2014 threshold was $82 million.  Acquisitions may be subject to mandatory pre-notification where the aggregate value of the target firm's assets in Canada, or the gross revenues from sales in or from Canada generated from those assets, exceeds the size of transaction threshold.  The size of parties threshold ($400 million), and shareholdings threshold in the case of share deals, must also be met for a mandatory notification to be required.

Similarly, Industry Canada announced the expected 2015 threshold for review for World Trade Organization member investors under the Investment Canada Act.  The 2015 threshold will be $369 million, up from $354 million in 2014.  The threshold for review for non-WTO member countries remains at $5 million for direct investments and $50 million for indirect investments.