The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission has issued draft Merger Review Process Guidelines 2013 (Process Guidelines) for public comment.
The ACCC publishes Process Guidelines to provide businesses and legal practitioners with guidance on the ACCC’s approach to informal reviews of mergers and acquisitions pursuant to section 50 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.
The informal review process enables merger parties to seek the ACCC’s view on whether an acquisition is likely to have the effect of substantially lessening competition.
The Process Guidelines were first published in 2004 and were last subject to significant revision in 2006. The draft Process Guidelines make a number of changes to the 2006 version (see below) which the ACCC considers will result in improved transparency and efficiency of ACCC informal merger reviews. The ACCC is seeking feedback from interested parties on these changes.
Since 2006, the ACCC’s approach to reviewing mergers has evolved. The draft Process Guidelines provide an update on the ACCC’s current practices, including:
This consultation has now closed.
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