The blocking of three major deals by Australia's antitrust regulator in the past year was a coincidence, its chair told Reuters, pushing back against concerns among bankers that it has become deal-averse. Since December, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has ruled against a data-sharing agreement between telecoms giant Telstra and internet provider TPG Telecoms as well as a buyout by ANZ bank of a smaller rival. It also blocked a purchase by Transurban of a Melbourne road.The quashing of the deals, worth a combined A$9 billion ($6 billion), has given rise to concerns within the M&A community that there is now more uncertainty about whether deals can proceed and that foreign investors will have less appetite for Australian transactions.
SYDNEY - The blocking of three major deals by Australia's antitrust regulator in the past year was a coincidence, its chair told Reuters, pushing back against concerns among bankers that it has become deal-averse.
"The vast majority of mergers the ACCC continues to see as not contentious," she added, noting the regulator approved 93% of deals in the year ended in June. But she added the three deals were blocked "in the context where there is much focus, particularly in relation to essential services, on cost of living and cost of doing business pressures".
Investors from abroad "are sophisticated, well-advised parties and they would be dealing with antitrust agencies in multiple jurisdictions", she said. "I don't think there is anything here that is going to raise a red flag."
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