RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Competition has approved the acquisition of 75 percent of Jeddah-based Agriculture Machinery and Materials Co. by Agrimatco, a Cyprus-based agricultural company. Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Competition approved 49 applications for mergers and acquisitions in the first quarter of 2022, an 88-percent jump from a year ago. The authority, known as GAC, received 101 application for economic concentration in the first quarter of 2022. This is 42 percent more than in the same quarter a year ago, it said in a report.