Watchdog reviewing proposal

AIR Niugini, through its wholly owned subsidiary Link PNG Ltd, is proposing to acquire 60 per cent interest of PNG Air Ltd, according to the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC).
Commissioner and chief executive Paulus Ain said the proposed transaction was going through various regulatory approvals and one of them was seeking authorisation from the ICCC.
“Link PNG has lodged an application for authorisation with the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission,” he said
“If the ICCC grants authorisation, the proposed transaction will proceed and it will not be challenged for potential breach of the competition law provisions of the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (Amendment) Act 2018 (ICCC Act).”
Ain said authorisation application for business mergers and acquisitions was a statutory process for seeking approval from the ICCC to proceed with any business mergers and acquisitions that would otherwise raise serious competition concerns and potentially breach the ICCC Act.
He said in PNG, there were only two main airlines competing and providing domestic freight and passenger services and, therefore, the ICCC would assess this application carefully.
“Link PNG had initially applied for clearance from ICCC but ICCC directed Link PNG to apply for authorisation because ICCC believed that the proposed transaction is likely to raise serious competition concerns and may not pass the ‘competition test’,” he said.
Under the authorisation assessment process, ICCC can allow transactions that are likely to raise serious competition concerns if the likely public benefits resulting from the acquisition are greater.
“If the ICCC considers otherwise, authorisation shall be declined,” Ain said.
He said that authorisation was a public and transparent process where ICCC would invite all stakeholders and the public to provide their views on any proposed merger or acquisition.
As such, ICCC is now inviting comments and submissions from all parties on the proposed acquisition.
“All information provided will be treated as public, unless the submitter requests confidentiality,” Ain said.