Merger Regulation under Competition Law 732748

A student who has successfully completed this subject should:

Understand the ways in which acquisitions of shares or assets (mergers) are assessed under competition laws in Australia and elsewhere
Understand the substantive analysis of mergers by competition regulators
Be able to analyse coherently the likely competitive impact of merger proposals from their terms and context
Understand the likely regulatory responses to merger proposals, and the steps by which mergers may be blocked or altered by competition regulators, especially the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Drawing on Australian, United States and European Union competition law and cases, principal topics will include:

The theory of merger review: Why and how mergers may harm competition, ‘theories of harm’ involving unilateral and coordinated effects of mergers
An overview of the processes for merger review in Australia, the US and EU
The analytical framework for merger review – market definition, concentration, entry barriers, countervailing power, imports and new sources of competition, counterfactual analysis
An analysis of the ACCC merger guidelines, drawing on US and other jurisprudence
Analysing special cases – failing firms, vertical and conglomerate mergers, complementary products, ‘creeping’ acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic and minority stakes
Economic models – predicting competitive effects
The role of ‘efficiencies’ in merger analysis – different approaches in Australia and the US
Regulatory responses to anticompetitive mergers, including structural and behavioural remedies
Advocacy in merger review – by merger proponents, customers, suppliers and competitors; drawing on economic, legal and business inputs; the regulators’ investigative tools and responses to submissions
International mergers – special issues where mergers are reviewed in several jurisdictions.

Melbourne Law School The Melbourne Law Masters