GLA & Co secures Dual Clearance for Apollo’s Global Transaction

Regional law firm GLA & Company (“GLA & Co“)has achieved a exceptional milestone by obtaining merger control clearance from both the Kuwait Competition Protection Agency (CPA) and the KSA General Authority for Competition (GAC) in record time. The clearance was secured for a significant global transaction involving the acquisition of Applus Services, by Manzana Spain Bidco, with GLA & Co representing Apollo Management X. 

The Kuwait CPA granted clearance in less than two months, complementing GLA & Co’s previous success in securing clearance from the Saudi GAC for the transaction. 

Nader Al Awadhi, Senior Partner at GLA & Co, emphasized the firm’s extensive experience with competition authorities in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. He expressed optimism about further developments in the regulatory landscape and highlighted the firm’s global involvement in assisting clients with merger control filings in the GCC. 

Fawaz Al-Dubaikhi, Partner at GLA & Co, expressed pride in the firm’s track record, having secured over two dozen clearances from competition authorities across the GCC in its initial two years of operation. He looks forward to continuing the firm’s commitment to excellence in the coming years. 

The transaction involved a €1.23 billion takeover bid by Apollo-backed Manzana Spain Bidco for Applus Services (APPS.MC), a Spanish industrial testing group. Apollo Global Management, the parent company, is a prominent American private equity firm with $548 billion in assets under management as of 2022. 

GLA & Co’s KSA and Kuwait offices collaborated on the dual filings, led by a senior group consisting of Ahmad Saleh, Hegui Taha, and Asad Ahmad (all pictured above). The effort was supported by a team of skilled associates, including Shahad Alhumaidani, Fahad Albaijan, Khaled Al Makhazeem, Khaled Al Khashab, and Jehan Saleh.