December 2024
Supermarket giants use the $5 Oreo to argue their discounts are real
The ACCC has accused Woolworths and Coles of misleading shoppers. The retailers say the regulator doesn’t understand how pricing works.
- Carrie LaFrenz and Tom McIlroy
November 2024
What is Trump’s favourite soft drink? Test yourself in our quiz
Have you been paying attention this week? Test your knowledge across politics, business and world news.
- Daniel Arbon
Swan apologises for Cbus; Chalmers’ RBA odds; Praise for stock pickers
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.
- Exclusive
- AFR Magazine
Three sliding-doors moments defined ACCC boss Gina Cass-Gottlieb’s life
When Gina Cass-Gottlieb was hired, some said she was too close to big business. She’s instead proven to be a godsend for the federal government.
- Ronald Mizen
Legal threats and ACCC ‘assessment’ rock PEXA-Sympli stoush
The Commonwealth Bank-backed property settlement exchange warns it could sue the regulator if forced to share information that would end its dominance.
- Kylar Loussikian
- Exclusive
- Big four
Bankers split as Chalmers kicks off branch levy negotiations
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has kick-started face-to-face negotiations with bank CEOs about a potential new $350 million levy, but bankers are split over the proposal.
- John Kehoe and Lucas Baird
Woolworths suppliers put on ‘holiday’ for price pushback, ACCC hears
The competition regulator’s public hearings have been told some producers did not receive any orders from the supermarket if they refused to drop prices.
- Carrie LaFrenz
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
The moment the ACCC boss put the heat on Woolies
The competition regulator is clearly sceptical about the way the supermarket giants use discounts, and whether the market is really competitive.
- James Thomson
Inside the two weeks from hell for the country’s biggest supermarkets
This week, Woolworths chief executive Amanda Bardwell and Coles’ Leah Weckert will have a chance to tell their side of the story in hearings run by the ACCC.
- Tom McIlroy and Carrie LaFrenz
M&A deals to spike ahead of merger reforms, says Corrs
The new regime is likely to capture more deals and involve longer reviews, the law firm has warned.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Merger shake-up gets Coalition’s blessing
The opposition will support the federal government’s biggest overhaul of the laws in 50 years, after lobbying from the ACCC’s Gina Cass-Gottlieb.
- John Kehoe
‘Critical milestone’: Chemist Warehouse, Sigma merger clears ACCC hurdle
After several delays, the regulator found the tie-up will not substantially hurt competition, paving the way for the creation of a $28.9 billion sharemarket giant.
- Updated
- Carrie LaFrenz
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
$30b Chemist Warehouse deal seals founders’ legacy. Now for the hard bit
Jack Gance and Mario Verrocchi have built one of Australia’s great retail brands. Bringing it into a listed environment is a fresh challenge.
- James Thomson
- Exclusive
- Mergers & acquisitions outlook
ACCC boss implores Coalition, Greens to back merger laws
Gina Cass-Gottlieb calls it the “most critical law change they are going to have to make a decision on in the life of this parliament”.
- Ronald Mizen
October 2024
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Why investors should care about ‘clunky’ merger rules
While hostile M&A deals are rare, they help keep boards on their toes. Investors should care about proposed merger reforms.
- Anthony Macdonald
- Exclusive
- Mergers & acquisitions
ACCC to target liquor, pathology, cancer clinics in merger crackdown
The bulk of private equity transactions in Australia will also receive greater scrutiny due to ACCC worries serial acquisitions and roll-ups are flying under the radar.
- Ronald Mizen
- Opinion
- Competition
After half a century, a new era of competition law begins
Fifty years of the Trades Practices Act should be celebrated by adapting to changing times, with competitive and efficient markets in front of mind.
- Gina Cass-Gottlieb
Private markets scrutiny at odds with ‘faster, targeted’ mergers
Changes to merger laws aimed at giving the ACCC power to scrutinise share purchases that don’t result in outright ownership have raised concerns among competition lawyers.
- Ronald Mizen
- Opinion
- Anthony Albanese
Albanese spots a bargain bagging Coles and Woolies
The government needs a political scapegoat to blame for cost-of-living pressures and inflation. The big supermarkets are reliable targets.
- Jennifer Hewett
September 2024
Negative gearing explodes | Coles’ and Woolies’ dodgy discounts | The corporate Power list
This week on the Chanticleer podcast, James and Anthony look at how the supermarket giants were accused of dodgy discounting, ask who will win the brawl over negative gearing, and examine the corporate Power list.