“The tribunal has concluded that the small increase in the market share of ANZ,if the proposed acquisition proceeds,would not have a meaningful impact on the degree or likelihood of the major banks engaging in successful coordination,” Halley said.
ANZ first made a bid for Suncorp’s bank in July 2022 as part of a plan to expand in retail banking. If executed,it will be the biggest transaction in Australian banking sinceWestpac’s 2008 takeover of St George.
But the ANZ’s initial bid was rejected by the ACCC in August last year,with the competition watchdog saying there would be an increased likelihood of coordination between the four major banks in the supply of home loans if Suncorp became part of ANZ.
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The tribunal’s determination was based on two key tests,of which it said at least one needed to be satisfied for the proposed acquisition to proceed and for the ACCC’s decision to be overturned. The first was that the deal would not be likely to substantially lessen competition,and the second was that the public benefits of the deal would outweigh its public detriment.
Halley said the tribunal was satisfied Suncorp was not a particularly strong competitor in the home loans markets and that the ANZ-Suncorp merger was not likely to substantially lessen competition in the home loan market or Queensland’s agribusiness market.