MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS – AUSTRALIA – REGULATION

Labor turns screw on mergers

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Original article by Ronald Mizen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 10-Apr-24

The federal government will give the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission new powers to block merger deals in reforms to be announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers today. He contends that the existing competition laws do not adequately address ‘serial acquisitions’ by large companies and acquisitions that entrench the power of market leaders. The reforms will not be as extensive as ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb wanted. She has pushed for merger partners to be required to satisfy the ACCC that the deal is unlikely to substantially lessen competition. However, the ACCC will have to be reasonably satisfied that a merger is likely to substantially lessen competition in order to block a deal.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

ACCC green-lights Afterpay megadeal

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Original article by James Eyers, Jonathan Shapiro
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 6-Nov-21

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has advised that it will not oppose the acquisition of ‘buy now, pay later’ provider Afterpay by US-based Square. The proposed $39bn deal will now be put to a virtual special meeting of Afterpay’s shareholders on 6 December, and chair Elana Rubin has urged them to support the transaction. The deal has also been approved by US antitrust regulators, and it is expected to be cleared by the Foreign Investment Review Board ahead of the shareholders’ meeting.

CORPORATES
AFTERPAY LIMITED – ASX APT, SQUARE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD

Seven takeover bid has failed, Prime admits

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 15 : 19-Dec-19

Seven West Media’s proposed acquisition of regional affiliate Prime Media Group has been cleared by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission. The ACCC would require Seven to divest the Spirit and RedFM radio networks in regional Western Australia to comply with broadcasting laws. However, Prime has indicated that the proxy votes which have been cast to date suggest that the deal will not proceed. Prime shareholders will vote on the deal on 19 December. Prime has confirmed that chairman John Hartigan will retire following the shareholders’ meeting.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, SPIRIT RADIO, REDFM

Investor’s moral win in Rio row

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 20 : 12-Dec-19

Australia’s Takeovers Panel has ruled that Rio Tinto can proceed with its proposal to underwrite Energy Resources of Australia’s entitlement offer, despite the fact that it could result in Rio significantly increasing its stake in the uranium miner. However, the Takeovers Panel also found that Rio Tinto’s underwriting offer was made in "unacceptable circumstances". The Rio deal was opposed by ERA investor Richard Magides, who has a 15.9 per cent stake in the company via Zentree Investments.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, ENERGY RESOURCES OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX ERA, AUSTRALIA. TAKEOVERS PANEL, ZENTREE INVESTMENTS

Google, Facebook, Twitter hit back at ACCC

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 13-Sep-19

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Digital Platforms Inquiry final report recommended changes to merger laws. The ACCC’s flagged crackdown on mergers within the technology sector has been attacked by the Digital Industry Group Inc, which represents companies such as Google, Twitter and Facebook. DIGI’s criticism came in a submission to Treasury, prior to the federal government releasing its response to the ACCC’s report.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, DIGITAL INDUSTRY GROUP INC, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, TWITTER INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED

FIRB gets tougher on China firms

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Original article by Angus Grigg
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 17-Jan-19

The Foreign Investment Review Board is now said to be subjecting most takeover bids by Chinese companies to scrutiny to ensure that they are in the national interest. Regulation of such takeovers was relaxed under the Australia-China free-trade agreement, with deals that are below a certain threshold being exempt from FIRB approval. However, sources have indicated that the policy shift has been prompted by the introduction of China’s National Intelligence Law, which has increased the central government’s influence over private companies.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF DEFENSE, HEALIUS LIMITED – ASX HLS, JANGHO GROUP, AUSGRID PTY LTD, STATE GRID CORPORATION OF CHINA, APA GROUP – ASX APA, CHEUNG KONG INFRASTRUCTURE HOLDINGS LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE LIMITED, FEDERATION OF GERMAN INDUSTRIES

Different audiences: ACCC won’t oppose Nine-Fairfax deal

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 9-Nov-18

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission advised on 8 November that it would not oppose the proposed merger between Nine Entertainment and Fairfax Media. Fairfax shareholders will now vote on the transaction on 19 November, while the Federal Court will then need to approve the deal. If both Fairfax shareholders and the Federal Court give the go-ahead for the merger, the combined entity, to be known as Nine, will begin on trading on 10 December. The ACCC cited the fact that Nine and Fairfax had mostly different content that targeted different audiences as the main reason for not opposing their merger.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, CGI GLASS LEWIS PTY LTD, OWNERSHIP MATTERS PTY LTD, ISS PROXY AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN SHAREHOLDERS’ ASSOCIATION

APA shares plunge after Canberra blocks CKI buy bid

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Original article by Matt Chambers, Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: Online : 9-Nov-18

Shares in APA Group fell by 10 per cent on 8 November after Treasurer Josh Frydenberg indicated his "preliminary view" on Hong Kong-listed CK Infrastructure’s $13 billion bid for the pipeline operator. Frydenberg stated he did not consider the bid to be in the "national interest"; he is expected to make his final decision in around two weeks. Superannuation fund infrastructure investor IFM is seen as the local entity most likely to make an approach to APA with a bid if Frydenberg’s views remain unchanged; any Australian-based bid for APA is expected to be lower than CKI’s

CORPORATES
APA GROUP – ASX APA, CHEUNG KONG INFRASTRUCTURE HOLDINGS LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD, WOOD MACKENZIE, COOPER ENERGY LIMITED – ASX COE, DUET GROUP, MOODY’S ANALYTICS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Fairfax, Nine deal set to get the nod

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 19 : 8-Nov-18

Brian Han of Morningstar expects the proposed merger between Nine Entertainment Company and Fairfax Media to receive regulatory approval on 8 November. Han says the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission is likely to take into account the impact of digital on traditional media when deciding whether to approve the $4bn deal. Nine Entertainment posted a 2017-18 net profit of $209.7m, while Fairfax made a loss of $63.8m.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, MORNINGSTAR PTY LTD, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE, MST MARQUEE, DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, MACQUARIE MEDIA LIMITED – ASX MRN, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED

Watchdog to rule on CKI’s takeover of APA

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: Online : 13-Sep-18

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has approved CK Infrastructure’s $13 billion takeover of pipeline operator APA Group. The merger creates a massive pipeline company with significant infrastructure assets on both sides of the country. The Foreign Investment Review Board must now give its consent for the Hong Kong-based CKI’s bid at a time when there is a lot of political scrutiny over high gas prices. JP Morgan expects that the FIRB will approve the bid, while UBS anticipates a decision by 4 December, the date on which the transaction is due to take place.

CORPORATES
CHEUNG KONG INFRASTRUCTURE HOLDINGS LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, APA GROUP – ASX APA, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, TRANSURBAN GROUP LIMITED – ASX TCL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY