Another challenge to Tabcorp-Tatts merger falls

Close on the heels of this week’s deal in which CrownBet agreed not to oppose the proposed A$11 billion Tabcorp-Tatts merger (see previous report) comes the news that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced that it will not further hamper the initiative.

In a statement Friday the competitions authority commented that whilst it will not further challenge the merger, it continues to believe that it will impact industry competition within Australia’s gaming and betting markets.

The statement also acknowledges that there is “‘no error in law to which it can object” regarding the agreement between the two major Aussie online and land gambling giants.

“While the ACCC takes a different view from the Tribunal on the extent of the public benefits and detriments arising from the proposed merger, there is no avenue of appeal that would test the merits of the Tribunal’s decision,” chairman Rod Sims said in the ACCC statement Friday.

Our readers will recall that the ACCC challenged the merger after Tabcorp took the matter out of its hands and referred it to the friendlier Australian Competition Tribunal, which ultimately approved the deal. The ACCC then appealed the ACT approval, and a federal court referred the matter back to the ACT for review.

Last month the ACT re-approved the deal with a condition that Tabcorp sell off its Odyssey Gaming business, and the merger was back on track.

The ACCC’s notification that it will not further oppose the deal clears another obstacle to the controversial merger