Should the pre-notification of mergers be compulsory in Australia?

Abstract

Australia is unusual among the world's anti-trust jurisdictions in not making the prenotification of mergers compulsory. However, if the parties are concerned that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is likely to object to the merger, there are strong incentives for them to notify the ACCC as the regulator has developed a strong reputation for imposing heavy costs parties that fail to notify such mergers. The result is a system of quasi-compulsory notification that creates the strongest incentives for parties to notify the ACCC of those proposals to which it is most likely to object. This study analyses data extracted from the ACCC's merger data-base and the empirical r..