Tribunal announces swift Tabcorp-Tatts hearing

There may be some hope for the online gambling industry with the Australian Competition Tribunal reconsidering the Tabcorp-Tatts $11.3 billion merger.

The tie-up between the two biggest retail gambling companies in Australia will be reviewed at an additional hearing, set to commence on October 24.

The Tribunal announced the new hearing on Tuesday at a directions meeting, after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) lodged an application for a new hearing based on recent evidence.

While Tatts shareholders were scheduled to vote on the merger on October 18, the timeframe was shot down yesterday, as expected when the Federal Court upheld the appeal against the deal.

But the process won’t be as long as the initial hearing, with the head of the Tribunal, Justice John Middleton, agreeing to speed up to re-application process.

The ACCC, which is against the tie-up due to weakened competition in the gambling industry, argued in its submission that a second hearing would mean the deal between the two companies would expire and Tabcorp and Tatts would need to start to process all over again.

However, it appears Justice Middleton wants to review the deal before it officially expires.

“We’ve got to proceed as quickly as possible, but with all due process,” Justice Middleton said.

The ACCC, CrownBet, Racing.com and Racing Victoria were granted the role of “intervenors” in the initial hearing, but they may have limited roles the second time around, according to Justice Middleton.

“I was very generous in allowing the intervenors in taking a full role,” he said.

“I’m not currently disposed to allow the intervenors to have this same ‘open-door’ policy.”

He added that he may only take written submissions to speed the process up.

While Justice Middleton had flagged concerns over whether his Tribunal could reconsider the merger in the appropriate time frame, he announced on Tuesday that it would undergo a dual track process to hear both the original application and all the recent evidence which has come to light since the end of June.

According to the Tribunal, the dual track strategy alleviates concerns that the Tribunal no longer has jurisdiction.

Among the new evidence likely to be reviewed from October 24 is CrownBet’s submission which highlights the changes set to impact the wagering market significantly, and online sports and racing betting sites more than traditional gambling companies like Tabcorp and Tatts.

These changes include a credit betting and in-play wagering ban, the addition of a 15 percent point of consumption tax which was implemented in South Australia in July and recently introduced by the Western Australian government, as well as gambling advertising restrictions.

The ACCC supports CrownBet’s argument that the wagering industry will face weakened competition if the deal is approved, as the merged enterprise would have a retail monopoly over nearly every state and territory in Australia. It would also hold all of the power when it comes to vision rights and Tabcorp’s Sky Racing broadcasting service.