When the ACCC became aware of the proposed re-merger of Verve and Synergy it wrote to the WA Government expressing concern about the potential impact of the re-merger on competition and therefore on consumers. It is important to note that the WA Government did not seek ACCC clearance for the re-merger and nor did the ACCC provide clearance for the merger to proceed.

In assessing the circumstances of the re-merger the ACCC became aware that Verve and Synergy shared a joint board of directors and had a single ultimate shareholder in the WA Government which meant there was little, if any, scope for the ACCC to review the re-merger under section 50 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

In light of these circumstances, and following discussions with representatives of the WA Government in which measures to ensure ongoing competition in the WA electricity market were put to the ACCC, the ACCC considered it was not appropriate to make any public statement about the potential impact of the re-merger until it had an opportunity to observe the efficacy of the measures implemented by the WA Government.