Merger Regulation Under Competition Law

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2013:

Applicants without legal qualifications should note that subjects are offered in the discipline of law at an advanced graduate level. While every effort will be made to meet the needs of students trained in other fields, concessions will not be made in the general level of instruction or assessment. Most subjects assume the knowledge usually acquired in a degree in law (LLB, JD or equivalent). Applicants should note that admission to some subjects in the Melbourne Law Masters will be dependent upon the individual applicant’s educational background and professional experience.

The Melbourne Law Masters welcomes applications from students with disabilities. The inherent academic requirements for study in the Melbourne Law Masters are:

• The ability to attend a minimum of 75% of classes and actively engage in the analysis and critique of complex materials and debate;
• The ability to read, analyse and comprehend complex written legal materials and complex interdisciplinary materials;
• The ability to clearly and independently communicate in writing a knowledge and application of legal principles and interdisciplinary materials and to critically evaluate these;
• The ability to clearly and independently communicate orally a knowledge and application of legal principles and interdisciplinary materials and critically evaluate these;
• The ability to work independently and as a part of a group;
• The ability to present orally and in writing legal analysis to a professional standard.

Students who feel their disability will inhibit them from meeting these inherent academic requirements are encouraged to contact the Disability Liaison Unit: www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

Drawing on Australian, United States and European Union cases and experience, this subject traverses the concepts and practice in assessing the competitive impact of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and other transactions. The lecturers cover both the theory and practical application of the legal and economic concepts involved.

Principal topics will include:

• The analytical framework for merger review – covering concepts such as market definition, entry barriers, countervailing power, and imports and innovation, in the context of counterfactual analysis and potential unilateral and coordinated effects
• Economic models used in merger review
• The processes and regulatory responses in assessing, predicting and seeking to address potential anti-competitive effects
• Advocacy and the roles of stakeholders in a merger review
• Assessing special cases, such as joint ventures, failing firms, strategic and minority stakes, and creeping acquisitions
• The assessment of international transactions across several jurisdictions.

A student who has successfully completed this subject should:

• Understand the ways in which acquisitions of shares or assets (mergers) are assessed under competition laws in Australia and overseas
• Understand the substantive analysis of mergers by competition regulators
• Be able to analyse coherently the likely competitive impact of merger proposals from their terms and context
• Understand the likely regulatory responses to merger proposals, and the steps by which mergers may be blocked or altered by competition regulators, especially the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Class participation (20%)

8,000 word research paper (80%) (16 October) on a topic approved by the subject coordinator

Core subject materials will be provided free of charge to all students. Some subjects require further texts to be purchased. Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.