Australia ACCC Rebuffs Talk It's Getting Tougher On Mergers
September 30 2010 - 04:30AM
Dow Jones News
Australia's competition watchdog on Thursday rejected
suggestions that it is taking a tougher line on merger and
acquisition proposals following its intervention in a number of
high-profile deals.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission recently
blocked National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB.AU) and AXA S.A.'s
(AXAHY) joint bid for AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd. (AXA.AU) and
also disallowed deals in the gasoline station, supermarket and
aviation sectors.
ACCC Chairman Graeme Samuel said the "myth" that it's being
tougher has arisen from the "simplistic and piecemeal" comparison
of the number of deals blocked compared with past years.
"You may recall that last year, some commentators were ...
saying that the ACCC was letting through too many mergers," he told
a conference.
Samuel also rejected suggestions that the ACCC is taking too
long to make decisions, saying that timelines for merger reviews
are best practice and considerably shorter than other
jurisdictions, including the European Union, U.S. and U.K.
-By Ross Kelly, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-8272-4692; Ross.Kelly@dowjones.com
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