Explanatory note

These Regulations are made under the Fair Trading Act 1973 (“the 1973 Act”) as amended by the Companies Act 1989. The 1973 Act as amended includes provisions in sections 75A to 75E to enable a prospective merger to be prenotified to the Director General of Fair Trading by means of a merger notice. Unless the merger is referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission within the period for considering the notice, no reference may be made.

The Regulations provide for the person by whom a merger notice is to be given; the time at which notices (including merger notices) are treated as received or rejected; the manner in which they are to be given, rejected or withdrawn; which address is to be treated as a person’s proper address; the time at which fees are to be treated as paid and the circumstances in which a person is to be treated as acting on behalf of a person entitled to give a merger notice.