GAC Approves 24 Merger Deals in August 2026

The General Authority for Competition (GAC) issued 24 no-objection decisions on economic concentration applications during August 2026, allowing the notified transactions to proceed as filed. The figure follows 34 approvals recorded in July 2026 and reflects continued activity in mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures across the Saudi market.

Among the deals cleared in August were two notable joint ventures. The first brings together Bahra Advanced Cable Manufacture Co. Ltd. of Saudi Arabia and Dervaux of France to manufacture equipment for overhead electricity transmission lines. The second links HUMAIN of Saudi Arabia with AirTrunk Singapore KSA Nom Holdings Pte. Ltd. to develop and operate data-center infrastructure and provide capacity for high-density computing workloads in the Kingdom.

What counts as an economic concentration

An economic concentration covers mergers, acquisitions of assets or shares, and the creation of joint ventures that result in lasting control or influence over another entity. Companies must notify the GAC when the combined annual sales of all parties to a transaction exceed SAR 200,000,000 — a threshold raised from SAR 100,000,000 in March 2023 and still in force in 2026. Notifications must be filed at least 90 days before a transaction is completed.

All filings are submitted through the GAC's electronic portal, where companies create an account and attach transaction documents and financial data. The authority screens each filing for completeness, may request further information, and conducts a competition assessment based on its Economic Concentration Review Guidelines before issuing a no-objection, a conditional approval, or a prohibition.

The GAC regularly publishes the number of approved transactions each month, and reported 75 economic concentration filings in the first quarter of 2026. For businesses and investors, the monthly figures offer a useful gauge of deal-making activity and of how quickly major transactions are moving through regulatory review in the Kingdom.

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