Treasury Laws Amendment (Mergers and Acquisitions Reform) Act 2024 (137 of 2024)

Schedule 1   Acquisitions

Part 3   Amendments commencing 1 January 2026

Division 1   Main amendments

Competition and Consumer Act 2010

97   Subsection 50(3)

Repeal the subsection, substitute:

(3) For the purposes of this section, an acquisition may have the effect or be likely to have the effect of substantially lessening competition in a market if the acquisition would, in all the circumstances, have the effect, or be likely to have the effect, of creating, strengthening or entrenching a substantial degree of power in the market.

(3A) Subsections 46(3) to (8) have effect for the purposes of this section as if:

(a) a reference in those subsections (other than in paragraph 46(8)(b)) to section 46 included a reference to this section; and

(b) a reference in those subsections to a market were a reference to a market (within the meaning of this section).

Note: Subsections 46(3) to (8) contain matters relevant to working out whether a corporation has a substantial degree of power in a market.

(3B) To avoid doubt, subsection (3) does not affect the meaning of substantially lessening competition outside this section.