Australia's competition regulator says new merger regime helps flag risky deals

Oct 15 (Reuters) — Australia's competition watchdog said on Thursday the country's new merger regime provides greater scrutiny of acquisitions that could harm competition while allowing low-risk transactions to proceed with fewer regulatory hurdles. Here are the details: The new regime, which has been in force since the start of the year, is balancing lower regulatory burden for low-risk acquisitions with greater scrutiny of deals that could harm competition, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said The regulator said it had seen strong acquisition activity, particularly in healthcare services, supermarkets and other consumer-facing sectors A notable share of transactions involved Australian and international private equity firms pursuing "roll-up" strategies, acquiring and consolidating smaller businesses into larger operators "The relatively small number of deals that we have either not approved or imposed conditions on are significant as they include supermarkets, petrol stations and insurance — markets that draw high levels of consumer spending," Cass-Gottlieb said The ACCC said it was not seeking to block pro-competitive investment bu