ACCC chairman urges courts to get tougher on mergers

ACCC chairman Rod Sims has issued a warning to the business sector – be upfront about the public impact of major company mergers, or face the deal being blocked by the consumer watchdog. Mr Sims “has been banging this drum on for a couple of months about how the mergers test is too weak and the courts don’t come at these tests from the right angle,” The Australian's Michael Roddam told Sky News. At a conference in Sydney in Sydney the ACCC chairman called upon the courts to correct what Mr Roddan described as “a global anomaly”. “The ACCC is bogged down in a landmark case,” Mt Roddan said. “It’s TPG and Vodaphone looking to merge, and according to Sims the courts don’t approach these things by accepting that basically a well understood fact mergers in heavily concentrated markets will result in higher prices. “[How] the US approaches these things by taking it at face value - more concentration will lead to a lack of competition and higher prices for consumers.”

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