Australia’s new mandatory merger control regime has recorded 50 notified transactions in its first three months, with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) reporting on its initial timing performance as businesses adjust to the revised process. The regime, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2026, requires businesses to notify the ACCC of proposed acquisitions that meet ministerial thresholds and to obtain clearance before completion. From Jan. 1 to March 31, the ACCC received 50 merger notifications and 108 applications for notification waivers. These figures exclude 13 notifications lodged between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2025, when voluntary notifications were available during a transitional period. Of the first-quarter notifications, 39 were cleared at phase 1. Two transactions moved into phase 2 for further assessment.
Under the framework, the ACCC must make a phase 1 decision within 15 to 30 business days, subject to extensions, either approving the transaction or determining that a phase 2 review is required. Phase 2 reviews can run for up to 90 business days, also subject to defined extensions. The move from an informal merger review process to a mandatory regime involves more explicit timing parameters and documentation requirements that need to be factored into deal planning, particularly for larger or multi-jurisdictional transactions.
The ACCC has also used a waiver mechanism that it applies to transactions it considers unlikely to raise material competition issues. A waiver allows parties to follow an abbreviated process rather than lodging a full notification. In the first three months of 2026, the ACCC decided 76 waiver applications, granting 70 and declining 6. Transactions that are not granted a waiver and that meet the notification thresholds must then proceed through the formal notification process before completion. The commission reported that phase 1 notifications were approved in an average of 18 business days. Waiver applications were decided in an average of 11 business days, indicating that parties with less complex deals may receive decisions more quickly via the waiver route.
ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said the early figures reflected how the regime is being applied in practice. “Although it is only early days, we are pleased with how the new regime is progressing. We consider that the early performance figures indicate that the systems and processes are working as intended which is a positive start to the new regime. Importantly, it is allowing us to build a greater understanding of patterns of consolidation in different sectors,” Cass-Gottlieb said. She also referred to the ACCC’s published commitment on decision timeframes. “We had committed to deciding around 80% of acquisitions within 20 business days either through an early phase 1 decision or notification waiver. We are currently meeting this commitment with 91% of acquisitions decided in this timeframe,” she said.
As part of the framework, the ACCC is publishing all decisions on notified acquisitions and waiver applications, as well as review timelines, on its public acquisitions register. The register provides information on transaction flow and the ACCC’s reasoning across sectors, including general insurance, life insurance, health insurance, and broking. “Increased transparency is an important feature of the new regime, allowing stakeholders to see the acquisitions coming to the ACCC and the ACCC’s reasoning. We remain focussed on administering the new regime transparently and efficiently, and we will continue to report on our performance and the key trends as the regime beds down,” Cass-Gottlieb said. The substantive legal test remains that the ACCC can move a deal to phase 2 if it is satisfied the acquisition could be likely to have the effect of substantially lessening competition in any market. For insurance sector mergers, portfolio transfers, and distribution arrangements, that test continues to frame how the regulator examines market structure, concentration, and potential impacts on policyholders and intermediaries.
The early operation of the Australian merger regime sits within a period of weaker deal activity across the broader Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Data from GlobalData show that the total number of deals announced in APAC – including mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and venture financing – fell by about 6% in January-February 2026 compared with the same period in 2025. By deal type, GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database indicates that M&A volumes declined 32% year over year across the region for the first two months of 2026, while private equity deal counts fell by more than half. Venture financing deals rose 28% year over year over the same period.
Performance varied by jurisdiction. China recorded a 47% increase in deal volume in January-February 2026 versus the prior-year period, offsetting some of the declines in other markets. India, Japan, Australia, and South Korea were among the markets where deal numbers fell. GlobalData reported year-on-year declines of 5% in India, 51% in Japan, 17% in Australia, and 26% in South Korea over the same two‑month window. The combination of lower regional M&A activity and a mandatory domestic merger review framework may affect decisions on timing, transaction pipeline, and deal structures. Engagement with the ACCC, expectations around review periods, and the relative roles of M&A, private equity, and venture investment are likely to remain under consideration as 2026 progresses.
