M&A

FDI SCREENING

The Screening of Third Country Transactions Act 2023 (STCT Act) was signed into law on 31 October 2023 but has not yet been commenced. The DETE anticipates that the screening mechanism under the STCT Act will commence operation during the latter part of Q4 2024. The DETE is in the process of finalising its draft guidance note for stakeholders and copies of the draft note and the notification form to be completed by parties to a transaction falling within the scope of the screening mechanism are available here.

EU FOREIGN SUBSIDIES REGULATION (FSR)

The mandatory notification regime under the FSR came into operation on 12 October 2023 for in-scope transactions. The European Union (Foreign Subsidies Distorting the Internal Market) Regulations 2024 have been published to give full effect to the FSR under Irish law. The Regulations cover the appointment and powers of administrative inspectors and offences under the FSR committed by persons and/or bodies corporate.

The European Commission published a Staff Working Document clarifying how it will determine when a foreign subsidy distorts the internal market and how it will apply the balancing test under the FSR. The Commission is due to publish guidelines on the application of certain provisions of the FSR by 12 January 2026.