The ACCC says a takeover of Axa Asia Pacific by NAB raises a higher level of concern than a takeover by AMP.
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has raised a number of concerns about a potential takeover of Axa Asia Pacific (Axa) by either National Australia Bank (NAB) or AMP.
"The ACCC's preliminary view is that the proposed acquisitions may raise competition concerns in the national market for the supply of retail investment platform services to institutions, suppliers of investment products, non-aligned dealer groups and financial adviser businesses," the ACCC said yesterday.
"It appears to the ACCC that NAB's proposed acquisition of Axa raises a higher level of concern than AMP's proposed acquisition of Axa."
Either acquisition may also raise competition issues in the market for the supply of investment products available on retail platforms and the market for the supply of financial planning and advisory services.
The ACCC said the merger of Axa with either party would be unlikely to raise competition issues in either the superannuation and retirement income product or life insurance market.
The concerns were raised in a statement of issues that was published yesterday.
The commission has asked for more information on the issues raised and said new submissions should be made by 26 February 2010.
It hopes to make final decisions on both proposed acquisitions by 17 March 2010.
"Given the length of time the ACCC has had to review NAB's proposed acquisition, the ACCC notes that a final decision on NAB's proposed acquisition of Axa may take longer than its decision on AMP's proposed acquisition of Axa," the commission said.
In December last year, AMP offered $1.92 cash and 0.6896 AMP shares for every Axa share, valuing the company at about $6.20 a share.
Although AMP's takeover offer has officially lapsed and the Axa board has accepted an offer of $6.43 a share by NAB, AMP has asked the ACCC to continue its review of the proposed acquisition.
The two non-consecutive alphabetic letters encountered most often last week caused more controversy than the underlying policy they represented, Wouter Klijn writes.... read more »
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