Primary briefing · Gazette
high impact 54640 · GN 7458 · 2026-05-08
Merger notification thresholds increased across the board under Competition Act
Effective from
01 May 2026
Government Notice 7458 of 8 May 2026 amends the Determination of Merger Thresholds under section 11 of the Competition Act 89 of 1998. The lower combined-turnover threshold rises from R600 million to R1 billion and the lower transferred-firm threshold from R100 million to R200 million, while the higher combined-turnover threshold rises from R6.6 billion to R9.5 billion and the higher transferred-firm threshold from R190 million to R280 million. The definitions also replace G.A.A.P. with I.F.R.S. as the applicable accounting standard, though the method of calculation in Part B of General Notice 1254 of 2017 remains unchanged. The new thresholds came into effect on 1 May 2026 and are therefore already operative.
Who is affected
M&A practitioners and competition law advisorsCorporates contemplating mergers or acquisitions in any sectorPrivate equity and investment firmsIn-house counsel at acquiring or target firms What this means for practitioners
Reassess all pending and planned transactions against the new thresholds to determine whether notification category has changed (intermediate vs large vs small/exempt).
Update internal deal-screening tools and client advisory templates to reflect the new figures.
Note the switch from G.A.A.P. to I.F.R.S. in the definitions and confirm that asset and turnover valuations for threshold calculations use I.F.R.S.
Advise clients on transactions that may now fall below the lower threshold and no longer require notification.