CADE hosts seminar on merger notification of asset acquisitions

On 31 March, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) promoted the seminar Notificação sobre Atos de Concentração (CADE Seminar: Merger Notifications), focused on asset acquisitions and related competition criteria.

The event gathered experts, representatives from public and private institutions, as well as CADE’s authorities, for an in-depth debate on key aspects of merger reviews in Brazil.

During the opening session, Gustavo Augusto, President of CADE, highlighted the significance of the meeting for the antitrust community. According to him, the recent increase of transactions in the real state sector reinforces the need to assess whether the criteria are suitable. President Augusto also mentioned the importance of gathering feedback from the agents involved to promote a thorough discussion.

“This issue has been debated for a while now. It is essential to listen to each other’s experiences, understand the challenges, and then reflect on the points raised,” he noted.

The debate

The seminar featured a keynote address by Paulo Burnier, Senior Competition Expert at OECD, as well as two thematic panels.

During his speech, Mr Burnier emphasised CADE’s ongoing commitment to improving public policies on competition defence. According to him, around 10,000 mergers were notified worldwide in 2025, highlighting the importance of the discussion nowadays.

In this regard, he stated that CADE has established itself as an international benchmark in this field.

“This topic is timely, especially given that thousands of mergers are under review worldwide. CADE is a beacon for several countries that seek to improve their systems by learning from the agency’s experience and case law,” he stated.

In addition, the first panel “Structural control in real estate development” featured presentations by Bertrand Wanderer, Head of the Office of the President of CADE, Attorney Adriana Giannini, representative of the Women in Antitrust (WIA), and Renata Zuccolo, Merger Coordinator at the Competition Committee of the Brazilian Institute of Studies on Competition, Consumer Affairs and International Trade (IBRAC).

The second panel “Concept of control” discussed the criteria to identify control structures in transactions, and was attended by João Carlos Accioly, President of the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM), Vitor Jardim, Head of Office at CADE, Rodrigo Monteiro, Head of the Antitrust Analysis Unit 5 (CGAA5/CADE), besides representatives of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB), Professor Amanda Athayde, and Raquel Candido.

Mr Accioly emphasised that, regarding merger reviews, it is essential to assess the influence degree over a particular entity’s decisions to identify any anticompetitive conduct that would justify CADE’s intervention.

Improvement of reviews

At the closing session, Commissioner Camila Alves stated that the debate was a great opportunity for institutional learning, especially given the complexity of the matter.

According to her, there is room for improvement in analytical mechanisms, as an institutional effort aimed at ensuring more effectiveness in the agency’s work. “The main lesson is that we do not want to miss out on important cases,” she concluded. The seminar is available on CADE’s YouTube Channel.