The ACCC has decided not to oppose Santos Limited’s (ASX: STO) proposed acquisition of Quadrant Energy Holdings Pty Ltd.
Santos and Quadrant are active in the production and supply of natural gas (and related condensate by-products) and crude oil in Western Australia. The parties also jointly own domestic gas processing facilities and associated fields at Varanus Island and Devil Creek.
The ACCC will not oppose the proposed acquisition of Austrak by Vossloh Australia.
Vossloh and Austrak are suppliers of rail track components. Vossloh supplies rail fastening components and switch systems including turnouts, while Austrak supplies concrete sleepers and bearers.
“There is no horizontal overlap between the products manufactured and supplied by Vossloh and Austrak in Australia. There are vertical links, however, and this is what the ACCC’s investigation focussed on,” ACCC Commissioner Roger Featherston said.
The ACCC has decided not to oppose the proposed acquisition of Racing Internet Services Pty Ltd (Racenet) by Punters Paradise Pty Limited (Punters), a subsidiary of News Corp Australia Investments Pty Ltd.
Punters and Racenet are digital platforms that provide racing news and information to consumers through their websites, mobile apps and social media channels.
The parties also earn revenue for referring new customers to corporate bookmakers, by acting as betting affiliates.
The ACCC has announced today it will not oppose the proposed merger between Nine Entertainment (ASX: NEC) and Fairfax Media (ASX: FXJ/DHG).
The ACCC examined a number of markets affected by this proposed merger. Australian news, including online news, current affairs reporting and investigative journalism, was the key issue, and in particular whether the merger would substantially lessen competition in the creation and provision of Australian news content.
The ACCC will not oppose the proposed $6.6 million acquisition by Cabcharge Australia Limited (ASX:CAB) of Mobile Technologies International Pty Ltd (MTI).
MTI is the most widely used provider of taxi dispatch systems to taxi networks in Australia.
The ACCC found that it was unlikely that the acquisition would result in Cabcharge supplying inferior dispatch systems or withholding technology features from rival networks.
The ACCC notes today’s announcement by Aurizon about the sale of its Queensland intermodal business to Linfox.
The ACCC has considered the Linfox proposal, and has decided that a public review of the transaction is not required, as we do not consider the acquisition by Linfox will give rise to a substantial lessening of competition.
The ACCC has decided not to oppose the merger of generic pharmaceutical companies Arrow and Apotex.
Arrow and Apotex both import and distribute generic prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals. Combined, they will supply around half the market for generic prescription pharmaceuticals to pharmacies in Australia. However, after market inquiries and analysis of documents and data, the ACCC considers that the transaction will not substantially lessen competition in any market.
The ACCC will not oppose the proposed acquisition of APA Group (ASX: APA) by the CK Consortium, after accepting a court-enforceable undertaking from the CK Consortium to divest significant gas assets in Western Australia.
“The ACCC concluded that, in the absence of the undertaking, the proposed acquisition was likely to substantially lessen competition,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.
The ACCC has expressed preliminary concerns about the proposed merger of Siemens A.G.’s (Siemens) Mobility Division with Alstom S.A. (Alstom), which are detailed in a Statement of Issues published today.
“A combined Siemens-Alstom would be by far the largest supplier of heavy rail signalling in Australia,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.
We will soon commence a public review of the proposed merger between TPG and Vodafone Hutchison Australia. We are expecting to receive a submission and other information from the parties shortly and the initial timeline for our review to be 12 weeks.