Eight Clearances, One Gazette: What Kuwait's Latest Merger-Control Batch Tells Global Dealmakers

On 5 July 2026 the Official Gazette (Kuwait Al-Youm, Issue 1798, pages 6 to 10 of the issue's second pagination sequence) published eight merger clearances issued by the Board of Directors of the Competition Protection Agency (CPA): Decisions Nos. 67 to 74 of 2026, all adopted at a single board meeting (No. 114, held on 23 June 2026) and signed on 28 June 2026 under Law No. 72 of 2020 on the Protection of Competition and its Executive Regulations (Decision No. 14 of 2021).

Why this matters

Not one of the eight targets is a Kuwaiti company. The batch spans a Hollywood studio combination (Paramount Skydance's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery), a global consumer-health merger (Kimberly-Clark and Kenvue), the carve-out of bp's Castrol lubricants business to the Stonepeak-led Motion JV vehicle, Foxconn's 50% investment in Mitsubishi Fuso Bus Manufacturing, Volkswagen's move to 93% and sole control of Green Mobility Holding (the Europcar group holding company), Saudi Arabia's East Gate Games Investment buying game developer Moonton and Shanghai Muton Technology from ByteDance, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise's acquisition of aircraft lessor Macquarie AirFinance, and Turkish Airlines' 26.95% stake in Air Europa Holding. For each, the parties concluded that Kuwait's thresholds were met and a local clearance was required before closing. Boards and deal counsel who still treat Kuwait as an optional filing should read this batch as confirmation to the contrary.

Kuwait's reach over foreign-to-foreign transactions

Law No. 72 of 2020 applies to economic concentrations that produce effects in Kuwait, whether or not any party is incorporated locally. In practice, sales into Kuwait through distributors, resellers or digital channels can be enough to meet the filing thresholds in the Executive Regulations. The regime is suspensory: a notifiable transaction may not be completed before CPA approval, and closing without clearance exposes the parties to administrative penalties under the Law. The eight decisions confirm a filing practice that now routinely captures media, consumer goods, gaming, automotive, aviation and energy-adjacent deals negotiated and signed far from Kuwait.

What the timeline shows

The batch also offers a useful data point on speed. The Foxconn/Mitsubishi Fuso file (CPACNM000252026) was published for third-party objections at the start of June 2026; the board approved it on 23 June and the decision issued on 28 June, roughly four weeks from publication to clearance. All eight files were disposed of in one board session, the decisions were signed within five days, and gazettal followed within a week. For unproblematic transactions, Kuwait is proving to be a predictable, first-phase jurisdiction whose review can run comfortably in parallel with larger regulators rather than sitting on the critical path. Paramount Skydance's Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition, for example, received US Department of Justice approval in June 2026, the same month the CPA board approved it.

All eight clearances were published without conditions. The CPA has not published remedies or commitments in any of the eight decisions, consistent with transactions that raise no horizontal overlap concerns in the Kuwaiti market.

Practical steps for deal teams

First, screen Kuwait early: run the threshold analysis at signing, not during the closing checklist, and remember that turnover generated through local distributors counts. Second, budget the timetable: build a four-to-six-week Kuwaiti window into the long-stop date, including the objection period that follows publication of the filing notice. Third, prepare for publicity: the CPA publishes both the filing notice and the clearance decision in the Official Gazette, so confidential transactions become publicly visible in Kuwait at two points in the deal cycle. Fourth, coordinate the multi-jurisdictional narrative: the description of the transaction filed in Kuwait should match what is filed elsewhere, since gazette publication makes discrepancies easy to spot.

WEFAQ's view

WEFAQ advises international acquirers, sellers and their counsel to treat the Kuwaiti merger-control analysis as a standing workstream in any global transaction with GCC sales. The Agency's June session shows a regulator working through a genuinely international docket at a steady pace, and the gazette record now gives dealmakers something they have long asked for in newer regimes: observable precedent on scope and timing. WEFAQ's Corporate & Commercial team assists with threshold assessments, filings, objection-window monitoring and closing mechanics under Law No. 72 of 2020.

Source: Kuwait Al-Youm, Issue 1798, pages 6 to 10 (second pagination sequence), dated 5 July 2026 (CPA Board Decisions Nos. 67 to 74 of 2026, signed 28 June 2026); US Department of Justice announcement, June 2026.

This article is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. For advice specific to your circumstances, please contact WEFAQ Law Firm.