United Arab Emirates: M&A/Private Equity

The UAE’s financial regulatory landscape is divided between the federal onshore regime and the country’s financial free zones. Businesses operating onshore may fall under the supervision of the Federal Capital Market Authority (CMA), while entities established in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) are subject to their respective regulatory frameworks.

The UAE has introduced new change of control regulations for financial services firms, requiring regulatory approval or notification when acquiring stakes above certain thresholds.

The UAE's Guidelines on Relevant Market Definition, published in July 2026, establish a comprehensive framework for competition analysis that directly impacts merger notifications, dominance assessments, and market power evaluations. Drawing on internationally recognized tools like the SSNIP and SSNDQ tests...

Escrow is becoming a standard feature in Middle East–Asia transactions as businesses manage growing cross-border risk. By placing funds with a neutral third party until agreed conditions are met, escrow reduces counterparty risk, secures payments and enables complex multi-party deals to proceed with greater certainty and control.

The ancillary restraints doctrine, developed by the European Commission, validates restraints objectively necessary to implement legitimate transactions with neutral or positive competitive effects.

The UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism is developing a National Competition Platform that will use artificial intelligence to transform competition enforcement, potentially reducing merger review timelines to 15 days while automating antitrust investigations and exemption procedures.

The M&A landscape across the region is evolving, driven by the growing influence of tax developments that are happening at a rapid pace!

The DIFC Authority has announced the public consultation of their Variable Capital Company Regulations ("Draft VCC Regulations").

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