GAC detects 130 violations, reviews 1,076 M&A deals in last 5 years: CEO

Logo of General Authority for Competition (GAC) 

The General Authority for Competition (GAC) detected 130 violating companies over the last five years, distributed in different sectors, most of which occurred in government tenders, said CEO Abdulaziz Alzoum.
 

In an interview with Rotana Al-Khalijiya TV channel, the official said that collusion violations are the most common, which constitute 60% of governmental tender violations, and 30% in non-governmental tender violations.
 

Alzoum also pointed out that the authority reviewed 1,076 mergers and acquisitions transactions during the last five years.
 

He stated that pharmaceuticals was among the sectors that were studied and the authority found a number of violations.
 

The CEO said that the authority intended to conduct a comprehensive study of the real estate sector, especially in Riyadh, but due to the lack of information and the authority’s inability to obtain it, it was unable to investigate the sector.