AGL's successful merger authorisation in June 2014
To date, most merger clearances in Australia have involved a
voluntary application for 'informal clearance' to the
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
(ACCC). The option of applying directly to the
Australian Competition Tribunal (Tribunal) for a
merger authorisation has always existed, but has generally been
regarded as impractical within the dynamic commercial context of
M&A transactions.
However, on 25 June 2014, the Australian Competition Tribunal
(Tribunal) granted conditional authorisation for
AGL Energy Limited's (AGL) high-profile AUD
1.5 billion acquisition of the assets of Macquarie Generation
(MacGen). The decision is the first merger
authorisation decision under the current merger authorisation
procedure. The decision illustrates that merger authorisation is a
practical alternative for certain M&A transactions.
