Since the introduction by the Capital Market Authority (the “CMA”) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (the “Kingdom”) of the amended Merger and Acquisition Regulations (the “M&A Regulations”) there has been a distinct increase in market activity, indicating that public M&A transactions will continue to drive deal flow in the Kingdom.

This note, updated in August 2019, provides a high-level overview of the current regulatory regime of the Kingdom governing public M&A transactions, and how certain of the M&A Regulations are tending to be applied in practice.