The ACCC's silver lining in its ANZ-Suncorp court loss
ANZ's win today before the Australian Competition Tribunal looked like a washout for the ACCC in its theories of competitive harm, but in some ways, the regulator couldn't lose.
In just over thirty minutes, Federal Court of Australia Judge John Halley discarded the competition regulator's decision to block ANZ's $4.9 billion acquisition of Suncorp Group's banking arm, waving the deal through with unconditional authorisation.
Still subject to the approval of the Queensland government and Federal Treasury departments, the decision seemed like a resounding loss for the ACCC, which failed to convince the three-person Australian Competition Tribunal of its competition concerns for the home loan or regional agribusiness banking markets.
But the testing of the ACCC's theories before the competition tribunal and a secured win for the merging parties, bolsters the regulator's arguments that this is the appropriate forum to test the regulator's workings.
ANZ shares fell as investors priced in execution risk and the likely end of any significant capital returns. Suncorp Group shares surged, thanks to the money ANZ will pay and the opportunity to focus on its core business. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank shares also lifted as investors had feared it might attempt an expensive and complex bid for Suncorp had ANZ been knocked back.
