Check a share acquisition against the additional voting-power notification requirements
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the share register and the transaction steps, set out the voting power immediately before and after the acquisition, whether the company is listed, widely held, unlisted or a Chapter 6 entity, and whether the acquirer has control before and after. Do not decide that notification is required.
- What the lawyer must review
- The lawyer decides whether the additional voting-power rules require notification. The ACCC page says these rules commenced on 1 April 2026 and apply only if the general notification thresholds are also met. An acquisition of shares in an unlisted company that is not widely held must be notified if voting power of 20 per cent or below increases to more than 20 per cent. An acquisition in any body corporate must be notified if voting power between 20 and 50 per cent inclusive increases to 50 per cent or more. For a Chapter 6 entity, notification is required if the acquirer already had control and voting power increases from 20 per cent or below to more than 20 per cent, or if the acquirer has control neither before nor after and voting power of below 20 per cent increases to 50 per cent or more. These rules sit on top of the control exemption, which yields where an instrument requires notification despite no change in control.
- Written for / version
- US
Open a jurisdiction version of this task to see which instruments apply: US
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | From the share register and the transaction steps, set out the voting power immediately before and after the acquisition, whether the company is listed, widely held, unlisted or a Chapter 6 entity, and whether the acquirer has control before and after. Do not decide that notification is required. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Calculate voting power before and after from the register and the transaction documents, including acquisitions by connected entities where the documents show them.
- Apply the additional rules only where a general notification threshold is also met. Do not treat them as a free-standing obligation.
- Identify whether the target is a Chapter 6 entity, an unlisted company that is not widely held, or another body corporate, and use only the limb that matches.
- The lawyer reads the determination before advising that the control exemption survives the voting-power rules.
Sources
- ACCC, thresholds for notifying acquisitions · 2026-10-22
These are suggested working checks. Confirm the required checking with the responsible lawyer before work starts; the checking approach does not establish permission to use AI.