Aussie competition watchdog withdraws injunction against Tabcorp-Tatts merger

The Australian newspaper reported over the weekend that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has withdrawn its application for an injunction against the Tatts – Tabcorp proposed merger pending the outcome of a federal judicial review it requested regarding the Australian Competition Tribunal’s approval of the deal (see previous  reports).

ACCC chairman Rod Sims explained to the newspaper that his organisation was withdrawing its application for an injunction in order to “focus on the main game” – the review of the ACT decision on grounds that there were three reviewable errors in its approval.

Sims opined that it was unlikely that Tabcorp would attempt to complete the merger before the review has considered the issue.

“The court will have the final say and we respect that but at best these issues have to be clarified. We think the way these things have been applied in the past have a lot of logic to it, so we are hopeful we can convince the court of that,” he said.

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