PRESIDENT MOHAMMADU BUHARI GIVES ASSENT TO THE FEDERAL COMPETITION AND CONSUMER PROTECTION BILL – EFFECT ON MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS IN NIGERIA

On February 6th 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari assented to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Bill which repealed certain sections of the Investment and Securities Act 2007 namely sections 118- 128 (excluding section 121(1) (d)) of the ISA 2007. Based on the statement issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the effect of this repeal on merger transactions is that SEC will no longer be involved with mergers between private companies but will now be restricted to mergers involving public companies and change in the shareholding of capital market operators.