The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) today announced that it will not oppose the proposed acquisition of certain assets of Lloyds International Pty including Capital Finance Australia Limited (CFAL) and BOS International (Australia) Limited (BOSI) (Lloyds) by Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac).
The ACCC concluded that the proposed acquisition by Westpac of Lloyds would be unlikely to result in a substantial lessening of competition in any relevant market.
Gilbert + Tobin acted on behalf of Westpac in securing ACCC clearance for the transaction and advised on the competitive bid process. Gilbert + Tobin’s Competition and Regulatory team was also involved in regulatory due diligence as well as obtaining relevant approvals from APRA. The acquisition is expected to complete on 31 December 2013. Gilbert + Tobin’s Corporate Advisory group, led by Peter Cook, are advising in relation to the corporate law aspects of the transaction.
The merger clearance was led by Competition and Regulation partners Elizabeth Avery and Gina Cass-Gottlieb. Partner Paula Gilardoni advised on the APRA authorisation and broader due diligence process. Special Counsel Jennifer Barron led the lawyer team including Morelle Bull and Kirish Kularajah.
Commenting on the transaction, Ms Avery stated, “Gilbert + Tobin regularly provides strategic advice to clients to secure merger clearances in complex matters. We are extremely pleased to have been able to achieve a favourable outcome for Westpac.”
Gilbert + Tobin’s Competition and Regulation group is the pre-eminent competition practice in Australia. The team is consistently ranked as the leading competition advisory teams in Australia, receiving the highest rankings in Chambers Asia Pacific (Band 1), Legal 500 (Tier 1), Global Competition Review (Elite) and PLC Which Lawyer (Leading).
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