On 10 October 2024, the Federal Government introduced the Treasury Laws Amendment (Mergers and Acquisitions Reform) Bill 2024 (“Bill”) to Parliament. The Bill will amend the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (“CCA”) to implement a mandatory and suspensory merger control regime in place of the former voluntary regime.
The Bill has been introduced following extensive public consultation, resulting in a number of important changes to the proposal set out in the earlier exposure draft.
On 30 August 2024, the Australian Treasury released a consultation paper on the proposed monetary and market share thresholds that will trigger a requirement to notify an acquisition to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) under the Federal Government’s proposed new mandatory merger control regime. It is proposed that transactions which meet either of the thresholds must be notified to, and approved by, the ACCC, with penalties imposed for any failure to notify or for implementation of a notifiable merger without prior notification to the ACCC. The closing date for submissions is 20 September 2024.