Search for:
Antitrust / Competition

Australia: Paving the way for a single mandatory suspensory merger control system

By , and 1 Min Read

In brief

  • On 10 April 2024, the Treasurer Dr Jim Chalmers MP announced a major change to Australia’s merger control regime with the introduction of a new single mandatory, suspensory merger control system.
  • The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will be the key decision maker and given stronger powers to examine transactions, including serial acquisitions and mergers by businesses with substantial market power.
  • The notification thresholds remain a critical unknown piece and will be subject to further consultation.
  • The new merger control system is to come into effect from 1 January 2026.

Click here to read the full alert.

Categories:
Author

Georgina Foster is a partner in Baker McKenzie's Sydney office and leads the Firm’s Australian competition practice.

Author

Lynsey Edgar is a partner in the Sydney dispute resolution team, whose practice focuses on competition and consumer law. She is global co-lead of the Firm's Competition Litigation Taskforce. Lynsey is recognised in Legal500 (Competition and Trade, Australia, 2022), where she is described by clients as having "high commercial acumen" and providing "clear and commercial merger control advice". Client feedback to Chambers & Partners states that Lynsey is "outstanding in her ability to advise on complex matters". Lynsey is a member of the Law Council of Australia's Competition and Consumer Committee, and has spoken widely on topics including compliance with competition law and responding to regulatory investigations.

Author

Helen Joyce is a partner in Baker McKenzie’s Dispute Resolution Practice Group in Melbourne. She joined the Firm in 2010 having spent the prior decade practising as a solicitor in London. Helen is recognised in the 2023 edition of Best Lawyers Australia for Competition Law and Litigation.

Related Posts