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Antitrust / Competition

Australia: Merger notification thresholds and notification forms released for consultation

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In brief

The proposed notification thresholds remain essentially unchanged from those released by Treasury in October 2024. The draft forms include short form and long form versions, with the short form version intended to provide a simplified process for acquisitions that are unlikely to raise competition concerns. However, in draft guidance, the ACCC has indicated it will set the bar quite low for when a long form notification is required.

The thresholds and forms are set out in the Exposure Draft Competition and Consumer (Notification of Acquisitions) Determination 2025 (“Determination“) and the Exposure Draft Explanatory Statement. The closing date for submissions is 24 May 2025. With the announcement of the federal election, the Government decided to initiate the consultation process before it goes into caretaker mode.

There are however a number of key details about the new merger control regime that have still to be released, including the merger filing fees and notification waiver process.

Click here to read the full alert.

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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.

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

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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.

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