Peru: Indecopi approved 27 mergers in an average of 44 business days in the first two years of its merger control regime

Just over two years have passed since the entry into force on June 14, 2021 of Law 31112 definitively introducing merger control in Peru in all economic sectors. Between then and August 2023, Indecopi’s Antitrust Commission received a total of 36 merger applications and approved 27, taking an average of 44 business days to process each application. This is one of the conclusions of the second edition of the report entitled El régimen de control previo de concentraciones empresariales en el Perú (The Merger Control Regime in Peru), prepared by Garrigues and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Peru.

The report also highlights the interest of foreign investors in closing mergers with local investors: of the 25 transactions approved where a decision has already made public, 14 were originated abroad (with an impact on the Peruvian market) and 11 were the result of local initiatives.

The Garrigues report estimates that the value of the 25 mergers that already have a public decision amounts to approximately US$ 28,464 million, of which 79.7% relates to transactions originated in other countries but with impacts on the Peruvian market.

Most mergers approved belong to the Electricity, Water and Gas (with six operations), followed by Manufacturing (with four). These top sectors achieved deals totaling US$ 6,436 million and US$ 3,194 million, respectively.

“Indecopi, in the first year of the merger control regime, approved operations in Phase 1 in 43 business days and in the second year in approximately 45 business days, including the prior admission stage. This shows that the entity stayed within an average range because it has been able to process what it has received”, explained the head of the Antitrust, Financial Regulation and IP Department of Garrigues in Lima, Ivo Gagliuffi.

In turn, Javier Coronado, co-author of the report, counsel and financial director of Garrigues Perú, and head of the antitrust department, highlighted that it is very positive for investors to be able to know Indecopi’s technical decision-making capacity. He indicated that the core for antitrust analysis in Latin America is in Peru, due to the fact that Indecopi hosts permanently the OECD Regional Centre for Competition in Latin America.