This was published 9 years ago
Watchdog brass to mull over Ten-Foxtel deal
By Max Mason
The competition watchdog's four-strong mergers committee will convene early this week to either block, approve, or defer a decision upon, Foxtel's controversial bid to buy 14.9 per cent of struggling free-to-air television network Ten Network Holdings.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is due to hand down its findings on Thursday although it is possible that it will delay a final decision until further review.
The outcome will have major implications for the Australian media landscape as News Corp and its pay television joint venture Foxtel strive to get a toehold in the $4 billion free-to-air television market.
The ACCC is also examining the merger of Ten's advertising sales division with Multi-Channel Network.
"Obviously, until we get together we don't know what decision we're going to make," ACCC chairman Rod Sims told Fairfax Media.
"We have a separation between the staff who are doing all the work and the four decision making commissioners. We've had a number of meetings with all the parties who are in favour of, or against, the transaction."
The ACCC raised sports rights, advertising and a separate 8.5 per cent stake in Ten held by News Corp co-chairman Lachlan Murdoch through his private investment vehicle Illyria among the issues it was considering in its statement of issues, which was published September 14.
Regulate rather than knock back
In its statement of issues, the ACCC said Foxtel could be more likely to make joint bids for sports rights with Ten, potentially squeezing out Ten's larger rivals Nine Entertainment Co and Seven West Media.
Others have argued that if the ACCC is concerned about competition for sports rights it should regulate those rather than knock back the Foxtel-Ten deal, and that the most recent blockbuster sports broadcast deals for the National Rugby League and Australia Football League both been tied up with Ten's rival's Nine and Seven prove that the transaction would not be detrimental to negotiations.
The proposed deal includes Ten merging its ad sales division with the Foxtel and Fox Sports joint venture Multi-Channel Network, with Ten taking a 24.99 per cent holding. The ACCC is in considering the affect on the advertising market.
An enforceable undertaking is essentially a voluntary undertaking which, if breached, can be enforced by the ACCC in court.