Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) has issued 100 merger and acquisition control decisions since the amended competition and consumer protection act came into force on January 18. The Authority now concludes proceedings on average in as few as 27 days — down from 67 for the same period last year.

The amended competition act introduced simplified and shortened merger and acquisition control procedures. Now, instead of the two months all cases received prior to the amendment, UOKiK follows a two-step analysis procedure that allows simple applications to be resolved within a month.

While the vast majority of decisions receive this faster track treatment, UOKiK did three times extend proceedings to the four-month deadline more complicated cases receive. The Authority employs this option when there is a reasonable likelihood of competition being significantly limited on the market as a result of an acquisition or merger being carried out or if more in-depth market research is required.

Additional information for the media:

Press Office, UOKiK
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw
Phone.: +48 22 827 28 92, +48 22 55 60 314, +48 22 55 60 430
E-mail: [SCODE]Yml1cm9wcmFzb3dlQHVva2lrLmdvdi5wbA==[ECODE]