Consumer watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has revealed it will not oppose IVE Group’s impending $116m acquisitions of Franklin Web and AIW.
An ACCC spokesperson tells Australian Printer, “The ACCC has considered the proposed transactions and decided that a public review will not need to be conducted.”
IVE made the surprise announcement earlier this week, and says it marks the company’s expansion in the large format web offset sector and will bolster its current offering to the retail sector.
IVE will pay $100m for Franklin and $16m for AIW. Franklin CEO Phil Taylor will continue to run that part of the business. IVE shares are up three per cent on the news.
The move comes just three weeks after rivals PMP and IPMG announced a merger, which is currently being investigated by the ACCC on how the proposed deal would likely impact industry competition.
It was accepting industry submissions from interested parties until November 18 with its findings expected to be released on December 22.
The ACCC quashed a proposed merger between PMP and IPMG in 2001, with the watchdog stating the deal would significantly reduce competition in the print market.
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