Argentina ranks second to last in the ranking in mergers and acquisitions of large companies regionally, according to a report that places Brazil first in the number of reported transactions in Latin America, followed by Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru. The data aligns with the latest report from the financial platform’s Transactional Track Record platform, which maps mergers and acquisitions around the world.
The number of business integrations is large and less than 5 percent of the transactions notified at the international level receive some form of adaptation or are rejected by competition authorities. Among the major international mergers that have had an impact in Argentina are the merger of Dow Chemical / Dupont (in the agrochemical and industrial input markets) and Disney / Fox (in the entertainment, media, film and television content industry). In both cases, the demands of the regulator were resolved through divestment and / or behavioral commitments.
In the first case, a merger gave birth to a “DowDuPont” divided into three business units: Agriculture, Materials Science and Specialized Products. The process was submitted for regulatory body analysis of 23 jurisdictions around the world and approved in all cases. However, in some countries, such as Brazil, companies have had to undertake divestment commitments on certain assets, in order to alleviate the regulatory agencies’ competitive concerns. In Argentina, the process was approved unconditionally, although companies have previously conducted divestments on a global scale that had an impact on the local market.
In June 2018, Disney announced its intention to acquire 21st Century Fox, a worldwide content, entertainment, sports and movie distribution company. The purchase was submitted to enforcement authority in 23 countries, including Latin America, where it was approved unconditionally with the exception of Brazil, Chile and Ecuador, which approved the process through conditioning agreements or behavioral remedies linked to the sports sign and content markets. , And Mexico, where partial abstraction was required. Was awaiting approval in Argentina.
And here, the supervisory authority issued an “objection report” last November. From there, the agency analyzes alternatives and requests for additional information, in order to gain access to more and better information about the operation of the market to reach commitments that allow resolving the questions asked when making the final decision.
