RIYADH: Red Sea International Co., Methanol Chemicals Co., and Al-Maliki Holding Group were among several companies to receive approval for mergers and acquisitions from Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Competition in August.
Among the deals to get rubber stamped was Red Sea International Co.’s acquisition of 51 percent of Fundamental Installation for Electric Work Co., according to a statement.
Methanol Chemicals Co. expanded its presence by acquiring 84 percent of Aldar Chemicals, as well as gaining a 80 percent share of the International Co. for Chemical Industries.
Additionally, a joint venture between Al-Maliki Holding Group and Technogym Co. was approved, focusing on marketing and retailing fitness equipment and gyms.
In August, the authority approved a total of 13 merger and acquisition requests, a slight decrease from the 16 approved in July.
Acquisitions accounted for 84.6 percent of the approvals in August, while joint ventures represented 15.4 percent, the statement added.
The authority has this year approved 120 deals without conditions and two deals with conditions, said official spokesperson Saad Al-Masoud.
During the first quarter of 2023, the authority received 83 requests including 43 acquisition requests, 11 joint venture requests and two merger requests, according to a report by the Economic Affairs Department.
This represents a drop of 18 percent compared to the 101 requests submitted in the first quarter of 2022.
International firms made up 54 percent of the total requests in the first three months of this year, while the remaining 46 percent were those from local firms, showed the report.
The authority aims to adopt competition-stimulating policies, combat illegal monopolistic practices with a view to improving market performance to support the consumer and business sector confidence, and contribute to investment flow and enhance sustainable development.
