Companies eyeing the regional market through mergers and acquisitions may get a reprieve as Comesa considers lowering by up to 60 per cent the fees charged to approve such deals.

Sindiso Ngwenya, secretary-general of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), said many companies have raised concern over the Sh44 million ($0.5 million) notification fees and called for a review.

He said Comesa was considering passing a recommendation to reduce the mergers and acquisitions fees to $0.2 million. The lower fee would make it particularly easier for medium-sized entities that may find the current fee high.

“This means there shall be an increase in the number of notifications by firms involved in mergers and acquisitions that subscribe to the Comesa Competition Commission,” Mr Ngwenya said.

Currently, the filing fee stands at whichever is lower between $500,000 and 0.5 per cent of the merging parties’ combined turnover in the Comesa region.

If successful, the reduction in the filing fees for merger and acquisition fees will bring further relief to firms eyeing new opportunities in the region.

The Comesa Competition Commission last year revised its rules so that the fee would only apply to mergers that affect at least two of the 19 markets and for firms with a combined turnover of $5 million.

That means mergers involving small companies with no cross-border operations will only be required to pay the fee charged by national competition authorities such as the Competition Authority of Kenya, which had sought a legal opinion on the suitability of the Comesa charges for fear that they would hinder consolidation in the region.

READ: Comesa relaxes rules on mergers and acquisitions

Under the new guidelines, any party interested in merging with or acquiring another within Comesa will now be required to notify the commission of the transaction four months prior to the completion of the deal so as to allow the commission to assess the planned merger or acquisition.

However, if the Commission is not able to complete the scrutiny within the time frame, it can seek an extension of up to 30 days.

In East Africa, only Kenya and Tanzania have national competition authorities.