The Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), Brazil’s competition authority, has imposed penalties on automotive companies for violating merger notification rules.
The most recent decision, issued during CADE’s 245th Ordinary Session, targets a 2025 transaction involving Renauto Veículos e Peças Ltda and Navesa Nacional de Veículos Ltda, with additional sanctions stemming from a series of past transactions involving Grupo Dahruj.
Fines Against Renauto and Navesa for Unnotified Deal
CADE fined Renauto and Navesa approximately BRL 5.36 million (USD 1.07 million) for gun jumping after the two companies completed a concentration act without the authority’s prior approval. In March 2025, Renauto transferred various tangible and intangible assets—such as tools, parts, machinery, and dealership facilities—to Navesa, in the context of operating Renault do Brasil S.A. dealerships in Goiânia (GO).
The General Superintendence at CADE initiated proceedings in 2020, determining through a Technical Note that the transaction between Renauto and Navesa required mandatory notification. Although the CADE Tribunal formally ruled in August 2023 that the transaction was notifiable, the parties failed to submit the merger filing until November 2024. The process was only concluded in February 2025, long after the deal had been implemented.
Commissioner Camila Pires Alves, rapporteur in the case, confirmed the violation and CADE unanimously approved the decision, holding both companies liable for prematurely closing the deal.
Grupo Dahruj Case: Multiple Transactions Without Clearance
In a separate decision, CADE sanctioned six companies—Automec, Andreta, Tempo, Dahruj, Arguri, and Mais Distribuidora—connected to Grupo Dahruj for failing to notify eight transactions conducted over the past five years.
Launched in 2020, the investigation concluded in August 2023, with Commissioner Gustavo Augusto affirming that each transaction was implemented without prior notification. Although CADE’s General Superintendence later cleared all the deals without objections, the authority emphasized that skipping the notification process violated Brazil’s merger control regime.
CADE ordered the companies to pay a total fine of BRL 5.9 million (USD 1.18 million), with the funds directed to the Fund for De Facto Joint Rights (FDD) under the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.
These rulings reinforce CADE’s strict stance on procedural compliance, underscoring the obligation of companies to seek regulatory approval before executing transactions subject to notification.
