Proposed amalgamation of BPAY, eftpos and NPPA

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has received an application for merger authorisation from Industry Committee Administration Pty Ltd (ICA) seeking to amalgamate ownership of BPAY Group Pty Ltd and BPAY Pty Ltd, eftpos Payments Australia Limited and NPP Australia Limited under a new entity (NewCo) by way of share acquisition.

The ACCC has 90 days from the date that the application was lodged to make its decision, although it can extend the timeframe if the applicant agrees. In this case, ICA has agreed to an extension and the ACCC has until 30 July 2021 to make its decision.

Submissions on the proposed amalgamation have now closed and all public submissions received will be available below shortly.

A full copy of an expert economist’s report (a summary of which was available below as Annexure 86 to the Application: Non-confidential version of Dr Geoff Edwards, Charles River Associates, Proposed Amalgamation of BPAY, eftpos and NPPA, Summary (1)) is now available below under ‘Applications’. Interested parties who wish to respond to this report that was not available on the public register prior to the previous close of submissions may do so by Wednesday 12 May 2021.

An indicative timetable for the ACCC’s assessment of this matter is set out below for your information. We will update this timetable as the matter progresses.