Screen an acquisition for a notification exemption
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the transaction documents, list which of the published exemption categories might apply: control, Chapter 6 voting power of 20 per cent or less, land and quasi-land, financial-market arrangements, ordinary-course asset acquisitions, and internal restructures. Note any targeted rule that removes the exemption. Do not decide that an exemption applies.
- What the lawyer must review
- The lawyer decides whether an exemption applies and whether the acquisition is outside the regime. The ACCC page says an acquisition that meets a threshold must still be notified only if the target is connected with Australia and no exemption applies. Share acquisitions are exempt where the acquirer does not obtain control, or already had control, unless an instrument requires notification despite that, and where the target is a Chapter 6 entity and the result is voting power of 20 per cent or less. Land exemptions include ordinary-course acquisitions, residential development, land businesses not operating a commercial business on the land, lease extensions and renewals, a later acquisition where an earlier equitable interest was notified or waived or occurred before 1 January 2026, and sale and leaseback. Acquisitions of assets in the ordinary course are generally outside the regime, other than land or patents. Coles and Woolworths have additional land and supermarket-business notification requirements that apply regardless of the general thresholds. The lawyer reads the determination, not only the ACCC summary, before advising that no notification is required.
- 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 transaction documents, list which of the published exemption categories might apply: control, Chapter 6 voting power of 20 per cent or less, land and quasi-land, financial-market arrangements, ordinary-course asset acquisitions, and internal restructures. Note any targeted rule that removes the exemption. Do not decide that an exemption applies. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Check the target is, or is not, carrying on a business in Australia before treating a threshold as the end of the question.
- For a land deal, match the facts to a named exemption on the ACCC page and then to the determination. Do not stop at the summary.
- For Coles or Woolworths, apply the targeted land and supermarket rules even where the general thresholds or the control exemption would not require notification.
- Do not treat an ordinary-course acquisition of a patent, or of an interest in land, as outside the regime.
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.