Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS NEWS: Parrish and Heimbecker agrees to adopt pre-merger compliance program, (Jun 1, 2015)
After failing to notify the Canada Competition Bureau of two proposed acquisitions, agri-business company Parrish and Heimbecker, Limited (P&H) has agreed to adopt and implement a compliance program designed to better ensure the company complies with the country’s Competition Act.
Upon discovering that the company failed to notify the Competition Bureau of the proposed acquisitions, P&H immediately reported the situation, according to the Competition Bureau’s May 29, 2015, announcement. In light of P&H’s voluntary reporting and the immediate measures it took, the Competition Bureau determined that P&H should implement a compliance program to ensure that it complies with the Competition Act in the future.
The Competition Bureau noted that P&H worked cooperatively to develop a broad compliance program covering more than the pre-merger notification requirements. P&H agreed, in part, to:
Ensure that employees are familiar with the Competition Act;
Appoint two senior executives as Compliance Officers who will be responsible for the development, implementation and maintenance of the compliance program;
Seek a legal opinion on all proposed transactions exceeding $5 million in value to determine if they are subject to pre-merger notification; and
Inform the Competition Bureau of the progress being made on the implementation of the compliance program.
“The Bureau is satisfied that, in this case, these measures are sufficient to remedy the failures to notify and to mitigate the likelihood of future contravention of the Act,” the Bureau announced. “Compliance with the law ensures competitive markets, spurring innovation and economic activity that benefits businesses and delivers lower prices and more choice to consumers.”
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