Wagering giant Tabcorp is confident the finishing line is finally in sight for its AU$11 billion (US$8.3 billion) merger with Tatts Group despite the potential of a last-ditch legal bid by rival CrownBet or the corporate regulator to scupper the deal at the 11th hour.
The Australian Competition Tribunal ruled the merger could proceed on Friday and while online bookmaker CrownBet would not rule out making one last move to try to scupper the deal, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chairman Rod Sims said the watchdog was comfortable with the outcome, pending the release of the judge’s reasons next week.
“We were very happy with the full court decision, we felt that dealt with all of our issues, so if that is carried forward into this decision than that should be fine. But we need to see those reasons next week,” Mr Sims told AFR Weekend.
“We never got to a view about deciding whether we opposed the merger … we put out a pretty light statement of issues then they took it off to the Tribunal which was very surprising. The only reason we appealed the first Tribunal decision was we felt it set a really worrying precedent for us for future authorisation decisions because we saw the test we applied versus the Tribunal was vastly different.”
Tabcorp and Tatts had originally announced their intention to merge in October last year. Tabcorp subsequently took the unusual decision to circumvent the ACCC’s usual merger approval process and took the deal to the Tribunal, which approved the deal in June.
Full Content: ABC
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
EU Conducts First-Ever Raids on a Company Under Foreign Subsidies Regulation
Apr 23, 2024 by
CPI
FTC Moves to Ban Non-Compete Agreements, Aiming to Boost Labor Mobility
Apr 23, 2024 by
CPI
Federal Judge Nods at $418M Deal in Real Estate Antitrust Suit
Apr 23, 2024 by
CPI
Mexican Watchdog Probes Amazon and Mercado Libre Over Loyalty Bundles
Apr 23, 2024 by
CPI
Competition Commission of India to Probe AI Landscape for Competition
Apr 23, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Economics of Criminal Antitrust
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Navigating Economic Expert Work in Criminal Antitrust Litigation
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
The Increased Importance of Economics in Cartel Cases
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
A Law and Economics Analysis of the Antitrust Treatment of Physician Collective Price Agreements
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Information Exchange In Criminal Antitrust Cases: How Economic Testimony Can Tip The Scales
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI