MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS – AUSTRALIA – REGULATION

ACCC lashes Aurizon, Pacific National deal

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Original article by Jenny Wiggins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 25 : 20-Jul-18

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has launched legal action against Aurizon Holdings and Pacific National in the Federal Court. The ACCC is seeking to block the sale of Aurizon’s Queensland intermodal business and its Acacia Ridge terminal to Pacific National, its main business rival. The total cost of the two deals is $225 million, with Pacific National giving Aurizon a $35 million non-refundable deposit. ACCC chairman Rod Sims has compared the sale to Coles being sold to Woolworths.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AURIZON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX AZJ, PACIFIC NATIONAL PTY LTD, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, QUBE HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX QUB, QUEENSLAND. COMPETITION AUTHORITY, QUEENSLAND RESOURCES COUNCIL LIMITED, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, STANDARD AND POOR’S (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD

Forrest rebuff over Rinehart bid

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 3-Jul-18

The Takeovers Panel has declined to conduct proceedings in relation to Gina Rinehart’s $A390 million offmarket bid for Atlas Iron. NCZ Investments, a unit of Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals, sought to restrain Rinehart’s bid, which is being conducted through Hancock Prospecting subsidiary Redstone, in the week ending 29 June.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. TAKEOVERS PANEL, ATLAS IRON LIMITED – ASX AGO, NCZ INVESTMENTS, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, REDSTONE CORPORATION PTY LTD

Howard in warning on mega-union

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 6-Apr-18

Former prime minister John Howard says the Federal Government should press ahead with its Ensuring Integrity Bill, which would subject union mergers to a public interest test. The bill was recently shelved after it was not passed by Parliament prior to the formal completion of the merger between the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union and the Maritime Union of Australia. Howard is concerned that the merger will lead to an "ultra-­concentration" of union power. Chris Corrigan, the former CEO of stevedoring firm Patrick Corporation, has expressed similar concerns.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, PATRICK CORPORATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS

Union merger test abandoned

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 27-Mar-18

The Federal Government will not seek to block a merger between the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union and the Maritime Union of Australia. The Government has shelved plans to introduce a public interest test for union mergers after failing to secure sufficient support for the bill among crossbenchers. Australian Mines & Metals Association CEO Steve Knott and Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn have expressed disappointment with the decision.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU

New Senate push to kill union merger

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman, Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 21-Mar-18

The Federal Government hopes to secure the support of Senate crossbenchers for legislation to block a merger between the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union and the Maritime Union of Australia. The Nick Xenophon Team has signalled that it is open to negotiations regarding amendments to the Ensuring Integrity Bill, while the Liberal Democratic Party’s David Leyonhjelm say he is holding talks with the Government. The CFMEU-MUA merger will proceed on 27 March unless the bill is amended.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, ONE NATION PARTY, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Murray Goulburn steams ahead to tie up sale deal

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Original article by Sue Neales
The Australian – Page: 21 : 7-Mar-18

An extraordinary general meeting of Murray Goulburn’s suppliers will be held on 5 April, where they will vote on a deal to sell the dairy co-operative’s assets to Canada-based Saputo. However, the meeting is conditional on the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission approving the deal by 4 April. Saputo hopes to gain approval from the ACCC in return for agreeing to divest Murray Goulburn’s milk processing plant in Koroit. The sale to Saputo must supported by at least 50 per cent of Murray Goulburn’s suppliers.

CORPORATES
MURRAY GOULBURN CO-OPERATIVE COMPANY LIMITED, SAPUTO INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD

Court cases could prevent super union

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 18-Jan-18

Employers’ groups say the Registered Organisations Act should be used to block a merger between the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union and the Maritime Union of Australia. The Act prohibits a merger if either party is the subject of criminal legal proceedings. There are currently more than 40 outstanding cases against the two unions for breaching workplace laws, but the CFMEU and the MUA claim that the Act does not apply as these legal actions are civil rather than criminal. The Australian Mines & Metals Association and Master Builders Australia in turn contend that the legal actions are "quasi-criminal".

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

ACCC seeks fines, jail for cartels

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Original article by Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 9-Jan-18

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission will ramp up its crackdown on cartel activity in 2018. Chairman Rod Sims expects the ACCC to launch criminal cartel proceedings against up to four Australian companies and their executives, although he has declined to identify them. Senior executives face massive fines and up to 10 years in jail for engaging in cartel activity. Meanwhile, Sims anticipates an increase in merger activity in 2018, particularly in the media sector in the wake of the Federal Government’s cross-media ownership reforms.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, VISY INDUSTRIES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NIPPON YUSEN KAISHA LINE, KAWASAKI KISEN KAISHA LIMITED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, OOH!MEDIA LIMITED – ASX OML, APN OUTDOOR GROUP LIMITED – ASX APO, SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, CAMP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, JAG, TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, TATTS GROUP LIMITED – ASX TTS, AUSTRALIA. COMPETITION TRIBUNAL, BP AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, PACIFIC NATIONAL PTY LTD, AURIZON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX AZJ, MURRAY GOULBURN CO-OPERATIVE COMPANY LIMITED, SAPUTO INCORPORATED, MANTRA GROUP LIMITED – ASX MTR, ACCOR SA

More mergers from media changes: ACCC

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Original article by Supratim Adhikari
The Australian – Page: 19 : 1-Nov-17

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims expects cross-media ownership law reforms to prompt further consolidation in the media sector. However, he has told a Communications & Media Law Association event that any such merger proposals must ensure that media diversity is maintained. He added that media diversity is already being affected by the growing market power of digital giants Google and Facebook.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA LAW ASSOCIATION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NBN CO LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

Online advance makes mergers unclear: Sims

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 9-Oct-17

The Federal Government’s cross-media ownership reforms are expected to be endorsed by the lower house in coming weeks, after being passed by the Senate in September. The reforms are tipped to prompt consolidation in the sector, but Australian Competition & Consumer chairman Rod Sims says "closeness of competition" will be a key factor in deciding whether to approve deals. He notes that while media diversity has increased with the growth of online news, there is now more overlap between traditional media such as TV and newspapers, which both have an online presence.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, OOH!MEDIA LIMITED – ASX OML, APN OUTDOOR GROUP LIMITED – ASX APO, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT, WIN CORPORATION PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, CBS CORPORATION