Public Consultation On Media Merger Guidelines

22 January 2015 – The Department of Communication, Energy and Natural Resources held a public consultation concerning draft Guidelines on Media Mergers ("Guidelines"). Minister Alex White issued the Guidelines under the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014 ("2014 Act").

Matheson regularly advises parties involved in media mergers and used the opportunity to submit a response on a number of aspects of the Guidelines.

Topics addressed in our submission included:

• Clarity: The Guidelines would benefit from further clarity and elaboration in relation to how the Minister will evaluate the 'relevant criteria' contained in the 2014 Act. Fundamentally, the role of Guidelines should be to assist parties involved in a media merger achieve legal certainty and allow for effective transaction planning.