Law change eyed to bring mergers under tighter control

THE Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC) is looking at a law change to give it the power to approve any large-scale merger and acquisition.
Commissioner Paulus Ain said the amendment would be for mergers and acquisitions that could have an impact on competition.
The amendment would be brought before parliament in its next sitting, he said.
He told the Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce and Industry breakfast yesterday that the commission had been given the run around by businesses as they were not legally obliged to comply.
“Between 2003 and 2011 there was a compliance culture by business and the willingness to cooperate with the ICCC with the relevant provisions of the Act which is voluntary. From 2011 to the present, there have been many mergers and acquisitions that have passed without the clearance process and without competition concerns in PNG.”
He said the ICCC was limited in regulating these mergers such as Digicel’s acquisition of Hitron and ExxonMobil’s acquisition of InterOil interests in Papua LNG.
“The way forward for us now is the amendment of the voluntary process which is Section 81 and 82 of the ICCC Act. That will make it mandatory for all mergers and acquisitions to be cleared first by ICCC before taking place. It is already approved by the National Executive Council and will be tabled for the next Parliament sitting,” Ain said.