South Africa Merger Control: New Notification Thresholds and Filing Fees in Force

By Nicole Araujo and Kelly Baker 

For the first time since 2017, South Africa’s merger notification thresholds and associated filing fees have been revised.  On 4 May 2026, Parks Tau, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, signed the new Merger Thresholds and Filing Fees into force, with effect from 1 May 2026. This was done by the Minister in consultation with the Competition Commission of South Africa. 

For intermediate mergers, the combined annual turnover or assets of the acquiring and target firms must now equal or exceed R1 billion, up from R600 million, while the annual turnover or asset value of the target firm alone must equal or exceed R200 million, up from R100 million.

For large mergers, the combined threshold has been raised to R9.5 billion from R6.6 billion, and the target firm threshold to R280 million from R190 million.

Intermediate merger filings now attract a fee of R220 000, while large merger filings cost R735 000.

New Notification Thresholds:

Category	Combined turnover or assets	Target firms turnover or assets
Intermediate merger	R1 billion	R200 million
Larger merger	R9.5 billion	R280 million

New Filing Fees:

Category	Previous fee	New fee
Intermediate merger	R165 000	R220 000
Large merger	R550 000	R735 000

 

This significant adjustment means that a number of transactions previously notifiable as intermediate mergers may now fall below the revised thresholds and qualify as small mergers, which are generally exempt from pre-implementation notification (subject to certain exceptions).

The practical upshot for dealmakers is a lighter regulatory footprint, with improved deal certainty and potentially shorter implementation timelines. Overall, the revised thresholds align South Africa’s merger control regime more closely with the current deal landscape and reduce the unnecessary notification burden associated with transactions that pose no real competitive concern.

Parties to transactions with a South African nexus should reassess their filing position against the revised thresholds, as deals previously assessed as notifiable may now fall below the filing thresholds altogether. Where notification remains required, parties should also be mindful of the adjustments to the applicable filing fees.