E.Law Australia Pty Ltd - completed acquisition of Ringtail Asia Pacific Pty Ltd and CCH Workflow Solutions Pty Ltd
Type of assessment
Informal Review
Reference
39526
Acquirer(s)
E.Law Australia Pty Ltd
Target(s)
CCH Workflow Solutions Ringtail Asia Pacific Pty Ltd
Industry
Litigation support and e-discovery services
Outcome of assessment
Not opposed
Total review days *
13
Commenced public review
23rd November 2009
Date completed
9th December 2009
Market definition
The ACCC considered the completed acquisition in the context of national markets for the following:
- electronic data discovery,
- imaging and coding,
- case management software, and
- consultant and project management for legal IT.
However the ACCC did not consider it necessary to consider whether the above product types represented markets in their own right, or were part of a broader market for legal document management.
Competition analysis
The ACCC considered that the completed acquisition was unlikely to substantially lessen competition in any of the relevant markets. Factors informing this conclusion included:
- the presence of alternative suppliers of each of the products identified above, and
- barriers to entry appeared low for new entrants seeking to supply the products identified above.
Review timeline
Date
Event
20th November 2009
E.Law Australia Pty Ltd acquired CCH Workflow Solutions Pty Ltd and Ringtail Asia Pacific Pty Ltd.
23rd November 2009
ACCC commenced review under the Merger Review Process Guidelines.
30th November 2009
Closing date for submissions from interested parties.
9th December 2009
ACCC announced it would not oppose the completed acquisition.
* Total Review days = Total business days less public holidays and time during which the review was suspended.
