China’s merger watchdog cracks down on clearance dodgers

Last Tuesday the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) anti-monopoly bureau took the unusual step of revealing that taxi operator Didi Chuxing had not yet sought clearance to buy rival Uber China’s assets but would need to if the deal met its thresholds, Reuters reports. Lawyers said companies sometimes fail to file due to ambiguity over how the revenue or control thresholds apply to certain structures, or because the deal is on the borderline. There is debate over whether Didi should include driver payments in its revenue calculation, which could push the deal over MOFCOM’s thresholds. Over the past 12 months, MOFCOM has stepped up enforcement against such “gun-jumping”, naming, shaming and fining a total of 11 companies, including Microsoft and Japan’s Hitachi, in relation to deals that were not filed.