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Weekly Global M&A Market Policy, March 21 to March 27

The United States plans to legislate to prohibit the merger of technology giants, and the over $5 billion may be directly denied due to the suspicion of monopoly. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Mondale Jones, who introduced an American Economic Freedom Project, issued a statement on the Prohibition of Anticompetitive Mergers Act of 2022, which aims to push forward legislation that would prohibit mergers of big tech companies. After the passage of the Prohibiting Anticompetitive Mergers Act (hereinafter referred to as “PAMA”), all mergers and acquisitions that exceed $5 billion in size or may result in excessive market share will be directly and automatically blocked and regarded as illegal mergers. If the PAMA goes through, Amazon’s merger with MGM ($8.4 billion), Microsoft’s deal with Activision Blizzard ($68.7 billion), and Google’s acquisition of Mandiant ($5.4 billion) would all be automatically barred. That is to say, strong alliances between large companies are no longer possible, but cooperation with small companies is not affected.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signs amendments to the Public Service Act. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signs amendments to the Public Service Act (Republic Act 11659). Under the revised bill, the telecommunications, railways, highways, airports and shipping industries will be considered public services, and foreign capital can hold 100% equity in these industries (except for foreign state-owned enterprises in some industries). Du said he believed that with the implementation of the amendment and the relaxation of foreign equity restrictions, the Philippines will attract more global investors, the public service sector will be modernized, and the basic services provided to the population will also be improved. Du also said that the amendments to the Public Service Act and the previous Foreign Investment Act are very beneficial to the Philippine economy and local business development, and are expected to create more employment opportunities for Filipinos and facilitate skills and technology exchanges with foreign investors. Create good conditions.

The Indian government does not allow local companies to go public overseas for the time being. India is holding back plans to allow local companies to list overseas as it seeks to boost its capital markets, government officials and industry sources said. The Indian government’s decision shows a sudden shift in policy. Late last year, Indian officials had said that new rules for overseas listings would be announced in February. However, the plan has been shelved, with the Indian government arguing that the domestic capital market has enough depth for companies to raise capital and obtain good valuations.

Ella Shi

Ella Shi is a third-grade student of the Literature Department, a lover of literature and photography. She used to work for the college media community as an author of the school paper. Now she joins FirmKnow to practice and explore her business knowledge.
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