Kuwait's Competition Agency Publishes Respighi BidCo / Recordati Merger Filing; 15-Day Objection Window Opens

On 28 June 2026, Kuwait's Competition Protection Agency (CPA) published, in the Official Gazette (Kuwait Al-Youm, Issue 1797, page 216), an economic-concentration application notifying the proposed acquisition by Respighi BidCo S.p.A. (Italy) of the entire share capital of Recordati Industria Chimica e Farmaceutica S.p.A. (Italy). Publication opens the statutory window for any interested party to lodge a reasoned objection.

Recordati is the Milan-listed pharmaceutical group active in the research, development, manufacture and marketing of medicines; Respighi BidCo is a special-purpose vehicle. Under publicly announced terms, Respighi BidCo is the bid vehicle for a consortium led by CVC Capital Partners and Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL), with funds connected to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and with Recordati's chairman expected to roll over his stake. The consortium has launched a voluntary tender offer for 100% of Recordati's ordinary shares at around EUR 52 per share, valuing the company at approximately EUR 10.7 billion, and intends to delist it from Euronext Milan.

The filing is made under Law No. 72 of 2020 on the Protection of Competition and Article 83 of its Executive Regulations (issued by Resolution No. 14 of 2021, as amended). Under Article 83, any person with an interest may submit a reasoned objection to an economic-concentration application within 15 days of the date of notification or publication, here on or before approximately 13 July 2026. Objections are filed at the Agency's headquarters (Burj Al-Hamra, 14th floor) using the form available on its website, against payment of the prescribed fee.

The notice is a clear illustration of the extraterritorial reach of Kuwait's merger-control regime: a transaction between two Italian companies, with no Kuwaiti party on either side, nonetheless requires a Kuwaiti economic-concentration filing because the parties' activities meet the local notification thresholds through their connection to the Kuwaiti market. Recordati's medicines are distributed across the GCC, including Kuwait.

WEFAQ's view: International dealmakers should test for a Kuwaiti filing at the outset of any transaction with a Kuwaiti nexus; the law requires the application to be made within 60 days of the relevant agreement. Kuwaiti competitors, distributors and customers who may be affected have only 15 days from publication to lodge a reasoned objection, and should act now if they wish to be heard.