Region: Australia

New Zealand’s antitrust authority has approved Sika’s proposed €5.2 billion acquisition of rival chemicals company MBCC Group after the parties agreed to divest the latter’s entire business in New Zealand and Australia.

04 April 2023

Stimulating competitive financial markets is crucial to helping consumers tackle cost of living pressures and rising mortgage rates, the head of Australia’s competition watchdog has said.

28 March 2023

Australia’s foreign investment review body has pushed back its decision date on whether a company with links to China can take control of a key lithium mine.

22 March 2023

Improving access to storage facilities and transport pipelines will improve competition in Australia’s east coast gas market and prevent the region from experiencing a shortfall by 2027, a commissioner at the country’s competition watchdog has said.

21 March 2023

Featured in Asia-Pacific Antitrust Review 2023

As the covid-19 pandemic ebbs, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is looking to new, harsher enforcement proceedings to crack down on cartels, closely monitor vertical arrangements and survey designated digital platforms.

10 March 2023

Australia’s competition watchdog has launched another market study into digital platforms, as its latest probe examines the “expanding ecosystems” of Google, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon.

08 March 2023

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has established a new internal task force focused on sustainability and also plans to broaden its focus from greenwashing and deceptive marketing to include antitrust issues, the agency’s head has said.

07 March 2023

The Australian government is seeking feedback on proposed guidelines for a new register that would force foreign investors to notify completed deals in certain sectors even if they do not trigger national security thresholds.

06 March 2023

The Australian government has blocked a Chinese national’s Singapore-based investment fund from increasing its stake in a domestic rare earths mining company on “national interest” grounds.

01 March 2023

A waste management company and its chief executive have admitted to criminally conspiring to increase and fix the price of waste processing services in Sydney.

27 February 2023