Form · Competition & Consumer Law

ACCC acquisition notification under the mandatory merger regime: preparation guide

Practical guide to deciding whether an acquisition must be notified to the ACCC and preparing a short- or long-form notification in the ACCC acquisitions portal, with the thresholds, fees, review timelines and gun-jumping traps as at 17 October 2026.

Kind: Form. A form to complete, or a guide to completing an official one.
Where it applies: Australia
AI use: Yellow AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
Law stated as at: 17 October 2026
Status: Maintained. Checked against the cited sources on 17 October 2026.
Version: 1
Source: Link to the official form. Licence: ACCC website material is CC BY 4.0 (excluding logos, Coat of Arms and third-party content). Notifications are lodged through the ACCC acquisitions portal using the ACCC's current forms: link only.

Where this comes from

The official form is published by accc.gov.au; this page is a completion guide. Last checked on 2026-10-17.

When to use it

Use at term-sheet stage for any acquisition of shares or assets connected with Australia that will be put into effect on or after 1 January 2026. Do not use as a substitute for reading the current Notification of Acquisitions Determination and the ACCC's forms, which change.

How AI may be used

Close supervision. AI can collate revenue and transaction data into a threshold table and index deal documents, but a lawyer must apply the thresholds, exemptions and control tests, because putting a notifiable acquisition into effect without clearance is a contravention.

AI may

Map the revenue, transaction value and prior-acquisition data the client supplies into the threshold table below, flagging every missing figure.
Index the deal documents and board papers for the notification and flag documents that discuss competitors, market shares or pricing.
Draft factual descriptions of the parties and the transaction from verified documents for the lawyer to review.

AI must not

Must not decide whether a threshold is met, an exemption applies or the acquirer obtains control.
Must not draft competitive-effects submissions or market definition arguments without lawyer direction and review.
Must not receive the target's competitively sensitive information outside an agreed clean-team arrangement.

The lawyer checks

Revenue figures use the Determination's definitions and the correct test date (generally the contract date).
Acquisitions in the previous 3 years have been checked for the creeping-acquisition tests.
Transaction documents prevent completion until the ACCC's determination or waiver.
The notification has been checked for accuracy before lodgement, because false or misleading information is a contravention.

Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.

Authorities

Official form

Open the official form. Always use the current version from the issuer. Licence: ACCC website material is CC BY 4.0 (excluding logos, Coat of Arms and third-party content). Notifications are lodged through the ACCC acquisitions portal using the ACCC's current forms: link only..

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