The Competition Authority, headed by Michal Halperin, has announced that it will not appeal against the decision by the Competition Court to allow the merger between Mizrahi Tefahot Bank (TASE:MZTF) and Union Bank of Israel (TASE: UNON). "The competition commissioner notified the parties to the merger today that after an internal discussion at the Competition Authority it has been decided not to file an appeal against the Competition Court's ruling. The Authority is in touch with the parties concerning the matters that the court returned to its jurisdiction, among them credit to the diamond trade and capital adequacy," the Competition Authority's announcement states.
At the end of November, the Competition Court in Jerusalem upheld the appeal against the decision by the acting competition commissioner in May 2018 to oppose the takeover of Union Bank of Israel by Mizrahi Tefahot Bank. The court ruled that no evidentiary basis had been found for the claim that the merger would harm competition.
The Competition Authority had been widely expected to appeal to the Supreme Court against the court's ruling , but it has now decided to refrain from doing so.
Union Bank's share price is currently up by more than 8% on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The share price of Mizrahi Tefahot Bank is slightly down, by 0.31%.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 10, 2019
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