Competition and Anti-trust

While Vietnamese Competition and Anti-trust law historically suffered from weak enforcement, the situation has changed. On 12 June 2018, the National Assembly of Vietnam updated its primary competition legislation by passing Law No. 23/2018/QH14 (“2018 Competition Law”), replacing an earlier version of the law active since 2004. The 2018 Competition Law took effect on 01 July 2019. With its extra-territorial reach, expanded grounds for mandatory notification, and a multi-pronged subjective test for what constitutes a prohibited economic concentration, the 2018 Competition Law resulted in a significant increase in voluntary merger notifications and requests for informal opinions from the Vietnam Competition Authority (“VCA”). In 2017 and 2018, VCA received a combined total of 8 merger notifications. In 2023 alone, the number of merger notifications increased to 183.

We Can Assist With The Following:

Notable Engagements

1

Acted as Vietnam competition counsel for USG (NYSE: USG) in Knauf’s acquisition of USG for USD 7 billion, resulting in competition clearance by the Vietnam competition authorities.

2

Acted as Vietnam competition counsel for Mabuchi Motor Co., Ltd. (Mabuchi Motor), acquiring Oken Seiko Co., Ltd., a global manufacturer of small pumps used in medical, automobile equipment, and home appliance applications.

3

Acted as Vietnam competition counsel for Mabuchi Motor, acquiring Ob Kogyo Ltd., a company specializing in high precision plastic gears, resulting in competition clearance by the Vietnam competition authorities.

4

Conducted annual competition training sessions for employees of a leading industrial adhesives company.

Key Contact

Diep Hoang

Key Contact

Diep Hoang

Diep is the founding Partner of Dilinh Legal. Prior Dilinh Legal, Diep worked at MBJSM’s Ho Chi Minh City office as a banking and finance associate where she acted for various foreign banks.