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ARTICLE · 14 JULY 2013

Competition issues in resources projects: Marketing agreements between JV partners

DLA Piper Australia
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This article outlines key competition issues arising in the marketing and sale of output from a joint venture project..

AustraliaAntitrust/Competition Law
Simon Uthmeyer
Simon Uthmeyer
Alec White
Alec White
Natasha Koravos
Natasha Koravos

INTRODUCTION

Joint venture structures are frequently used to undertake large resources projects. A joint venture may be used to both develop a project and sell the output from a project.

Such joint ventures often involve agreements between competitors. As such, joint ventures could breach the anti-competitive provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (Act) such as price fixing, bid rigging, other cartel conduct or exclusionary agreements if they do not fall within the joint venture exception and are not authorised.

This article outlines key competition issues that may arise in the marketing and sale of output from a joint venture project and two ways to mitigate the risk of a breach of the Act.

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