The Competition Authority has initiated a public consultation on its approach to company mergers under new competition legislation, writes Una McCaffrey.

The consultation will cover the procedures to be used in reviewing mergers and acquisitions, the forms to be used for notifying such transactions and the economic guidelines to be used in analysing mergers.

The authority is inviting comment on three draft consultative documents, which have been published on its website at www.tca.ie/mergers. A new merger regime is due to come into effect at the start of next year, in line with provisions contained within the Competition Act 2002.

Currently, the merger review process falls under the auspices of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. From next January, this responsibility will revert completely to the authority, which will hold rejection or approval powers on all mergers.

The only exception to this rule comes in the area of media mergers which, if approved, can proceed for the consideration of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney.

Dr Dermot Nolan, senior economist in the Competition Authority, said yesterday that the consultation was aimed at informing businesses and consumers on how the new arrangements would operate and inviting them to put their views forward. "We're particularly interested in hearing from consumers," Dr Nolan said.

The basic intention behind the drafting of new guidelines is to make the merger approval process more transparent and to explain why mergers are approved or rejected, according to Dr Nolan.

The initial consultation period is to last until September 9th, when the authority will hold a conference in Dublin's Hilton Hotel to discuss the procedures and guidelines. The Authority has promised to issue final versions of these procedures and guidelines in November.