ACCC paves way for Seven’s acquisition of Prime
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) will not oppose Seven West Media’s (SWM) proposed acquisition of Prime Media Group (PRT).
The ACCC did not oppose the proposed 2019 merger between SWM and PRT, which didn’t go ahead as it did not meet the requisite number of Prime shareholders.
ACCC chair Rod Sims said: “Given the importance of media markets, we decided to conduct a public review for this proposed acquisition. Despite not opposing the 2019 proposed acquisition, we thought it was important to still closely scrutinise this transaction.
“We focused our assessment on whether there had been any material changes in the relevant markets since the ACCC’s 2019 review.”
“We received minimal engagement from market participants including rival media companies, and feedback received indicated there had been no material changes in the relevant markets.
“Consistent with our findings in 2019, we concluded that the proposed acquisition was unlikely to substantially lessen competition or choice for advertisers and consumers. This is because Seven West Media and Prime are not particularly close competitors in the supply of advertising opportunities or the supply of media content, and other competitors will constrain the merged entity.”
The news that SWM would again be looking to acquire PRT was met with a positive response by the market and media buyers.
Have your say