Merger laws: Business relieved ACCC chairwoman Gina Cass-Gottlieb didn’t win one key change in merger approvals process

Already a subscriber?Gina Cass-Gottlieb might not have received all she wanted, but the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission still ends up withAccording to Treasurer Jim Chalmers, the result will be a merger approvals regime that is “faster, stronger, simpler, more targeted and more transparent”.

The treasurer is also sensitive to criticism the government’s growth strategy is inadequate and that he has not taken on major economic reform needed in areas such as tax.Announcing the latest example of long-term institutional change allows Chalmers to say the government is delivering the “biggest reforms to merger settings in almost 50 years”.

Just ask ANZ and Suncorp about the protracted timeline for ANZ’s unsuccessful attempt to get ACCC approval for its takeover of Suncorp’s bank. The ACCC was subsequently overruled by the Australian Competition Tribunal. That obviously affects the ability for big supermarket chains such as Coles and Woolworths to take over smaller competitors as part of a “creeping acquisitions” strategy. Cass-Gottlieb has already proved she is willing to apply this standard, having opposed Woolworths’ acquisition of an IGA store in Queanbeyan last year.

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