The Competitor : Canada Competition / Antitrust Blog by Stikeman Elliott Lawyers & Attorneys

In March, 2009, the Competition Bureau released in final form a Bulletin to provide "practical guidance" on the Bureau's approach to "efficiencies" claims in mergers, as provided for in section 96 of the Competition Act (the Act). In particular, the Bulletin addresses the information required and the analytical approach to be used to determine when the Bureau will refrain from challenging on a merger on the grounds that the efficiency gains likely to be brought about by the merger will be greater than and will offset the anticompetitive effects likely to arise from it. The Bulletin, released in draft for public comment in August 2008, is said to supplement the discussion of efficiencies in the Bureau's Merger Enforcement Guidelines (revised in 2004), commonly known as the MEGs.

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Susan M. Hutton

The Canadian Competition Bureau recently unveiled draft new Guidelines for The Revised Merger Review Process, as well as a proposed Regulation Amending the Notifiable Transactions Regulations¹.Both documents are in draft form, with comments requested by May 29, 2009 in the case of the draft Guidelines, and by June 3, 2009² in the case of the proposed Regulation. The sudden implementation of a U.S.-style two-stage merger review process on March 12, 2009 left the Bureau rushing to update the filing requirements, not least because the current Regulation speaks of a choice between a short-form and a long-form notification that no longer exists. The Bureau's draft process Guidelines seek to answer questions concerning "supplementary information requests," the equivalent of so-called "second requests" for documents and information in the United States. The issuance of such a request triggers the second stage of merger review and suspends the waiting period while the parties supply the additional information requested.

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Kim D.G. Alexander-Cook
 

Canada's Competition Bureau recently released a Backgrounder explaining the results of its review of the acquisition by Superior Plus LP of various propane assets of Irving Oil Limited/Irving Oil Marketing Limited. Notwithstanding acceptance by the Commissioner of Competition that the acquisition would result in efficiencies, the Commissioner forced Superior to divest itself of certain Irving propane-storage assets to another Newfoundland competitor.

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