COMPETITION – AUSTRALIA – REGULATION

APN calls for broad study of $1.6bn deal

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jake Mitchell, Daniel Palmer
The Australian – Page: 21 : 15-Dec-16

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission will undertake a public review of the proposed merger between APN Outdoor Group and oOh!Media. APN Outdoor chairman Doug Flynn argues that the ACCC should take into account the broader advertising market rather than focusing on the out-of-home segment. The $A1.6bn scheme of arrangement merger has the support of both companies’ boards, while it must also be approved by oOh!Media shareholders.

CORPORATES
APN OUTDOOR GROUP LIMITED – ASX APO, OOH!MEDIA LIMITED – ASX OML, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, PERPETUAL LIMITED – ASX PPT, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, TWITTER INCORPORATED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX SXL, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CADENCE ADVISORY, HIGHBURY PARTNERSHIP PTY LTD, MACQUARIE CAPITAL PTY LTD, MEDIAWORKS (NZ) LIMITED

ARM buy good for regions, says News

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Darren Davidson, Daniel Palmer
The Australian – Page: 23 : 9-Dec-16

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has approved News Corporation’s $A36.6m deal to acquire Australian Regional Media from APN News & Media. News Corp will add 12 regionals newspapers and 60 community newspapers in Queensland and northeast New South Wales to its stable of print publications after the ACCC concluded that the deal would not significantly affect competition.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN, AUSTRALIAN REGIONAL MEDIA, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

ACCC to look at online rivals if magazines join

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jake Mitchell
The Australian – Page: 21 : 30-Nov-16

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission could be expected to closely scrutinise any move by Bauer Media to acquire Pacific Magazines. ACCC chairman Rod Sims says that as yet neither group has sought advice from the regulator with regard to competition issues. Sims adds that the ACCC would consider factors such as competition from online magazines in deciding to approve a merger between the nation’s two largest magazine publishers.

CORPORATES
BAUER MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PACIFIC MAGAZINES PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, ACP MAGAZINES LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

Real estate group retreats on ad rate bargaining

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 21 : 29-Sep-16

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission recently blocked a proposal by Property Media Group to engage in collective bargaining with REA Group and Domain regarding advertising rates for property listings. Property Media Group, which comprises a consortium of 170 real estate agents, has agreed to withdraw its proposal in response to the ACCC’s draft determination in late August. REA Group CEO Tracey Fellows says the listed group supports the ACCC’s ruling.

CORPORATES
REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, DOMAIN.COM.AU, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, PROPERTY MEDIA GROUP, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Super review to scrutinise banks’ power

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sally Rose, Sally Patten
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 3-Aug-16

The market power of bank-owned retail superannuation funds will be scrutinised by the Productivity Commission as part of its review of vertical integration in the banking sector. The Commission has released a draft report on the first stage of its review, and a consultation process on the draft report remain open until 9 September 2016. Productivity Commission deputy chair Karen Chester says a key issue is whether super fund members are benefiting from the economies of scale generated by vertical integration.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, INDUSTRY SUPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FINANCIAL SERVICES COUNCIL, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

ACCC raids CFMEU in probe into price-fixing

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 27-Jul-16

The militant Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union is under scrutiny for potential cartel activity. Its office in Canberra was raided by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission and the Australian Federal Police on 26 July 2016, in response to allegations of price-fixing that were raised during hearings of the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance & Corruption. Union boss Dave Noonan has denied that the CFMEU or its officials engaged in such practices.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION

Cartel fines up $45.7m as ACCC bares teeth

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Leo Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 21 : 24-Jun-16

The competition watchdog has become more active in pursuing companies engaged in uncompetitive behaviour. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has imposed fines of $A45.7 million in total for breaches of cartel and competition laws since January 2016. This figure is rather surprising, considering that the commission found no evidence of the same offences and issued no fines at all in calendar 2015.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, EGR PTY LTD, PALRAM AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AMPELITE, CEMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Optus foray into sports ‘good for competition’

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 30-May-16

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims says Optus’s acquisition of local broadcasting rights for the English Premier League demonstrates the competitive environment for sports rights. Telstra has traditionally been the dominant telco in terms of sports rights, but Optus has signalled its interest in expanding its exclusive sports coverage.

CORPORATES
SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, THE A LEAGUE PTY LTD, CRICKET AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NETBALL AUSTRALIA, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

ACCC’s concerns delay Asciano deal

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 27-May-16

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission will not make a final ruling on the $A9bn takeover of ports and rail group Asciano until 21 July 2016. The ACCC’s statement of issues raises a number of concerns regarding the proposed deal, including the impact on competition if the sale of Asciano’s stake in the ACFS Port Logistics joint venture proceeds. The ACCC will accept submissions on its statement of issues until 10 June.

CORPORATES
ASCIANO LIMITED – ASX AIO, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, ACFS PORT LOGISTICS PTY LTD, BROOKFIELD INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERS LP, GOVERNMENT OF SINGAPORE INVESTMENT CORPORATION PTE LTD, QATAR INVESTCO, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, QUBE HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX QUB, PATRICK CORPORATION LIMITED, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES, PACIFIC NATIONAL PTY LTD, CANADA PENSION PLAN INVESTMENT BOARD, CIC CAPITAL CORPORATION, DBCT HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Hardware merger is ‘the better of two evils’

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 17-May-16

Mitre 10 boasts a three per cent share of Australia’s hardware market, but this would rise to five per cent if it acquired Woolworths-owned Danks. Hardware retailer John Dahlsen believes that the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission should approve any merger between the two groups. He argues that an enlarged Mitre 10 could reduce its wholesale costs, which could in turn make the independent hardware retailers that it supplies more competitive against Bunnings.

CORPORATES
MITRE 10 LIMITED, DANKS HOLDINGS LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, JC DAHLSEN PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, LOWE’S COMPANIES INCORPORATED, MASTERS HOME IMPROVEMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NATBUILD PTY LTD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, HOME TIMBER AND HARDWARE, THRIFTY-LINK HARDWARE PTY LTD, TRUE VALUE HARDWARE LIMITED