---
title: "Clean team protocol for a competitor acquisition"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/mergers-and-acquisitions-private-equity/clean-team-protocol"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a2-clean-team-protocol"
area_id: "A2"
kind: "policy"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
task_ids: ["A2-T1-R1", "A2-B6-1", "A2-B8-1"]
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-22"
---

# Clean team protocol for a competitor acquisition

> A protocol for a deal between competitors: who may see current competitively sensitive information, what they may use it for, and what must not happen before completion.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/mergers-and-acquisitions-private-equity/clean-team-protocol  
Law stated as at: 2026-10-22

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

- Kind: Policy. A policy or procedure for a firm or client.
- Practice area: [Mergers & Acquisitions / Private Equity](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/mergers-and-acquisitions-private-equity.md)
- Jurisdictions: Australia
- AI level: Yellow. You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at: 2026-10-22
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-22 against the 3 authorities it cites, for Australia.

## When to use it

Use when the buyer and the target compete, before due diligence starts, and keep it in place until completion. It sits on top of the confidentiality deed. It is not a substitute for ACCC notification.

## Used for these tasks

- [Triage the data room and draft a first-pass issues list](https://ailawframework.com/practice/mergers-and-acquisitions-private-equity/triage-the-data-room-and-draft-a-first-pass-issues-list.md)
- [Triage and classify a data room with AI](https://ailawframework.com/practice/mergers-and-acquisitions-private-equity/triage-and-classify-a-data-room-with-ai.md)
- [Use a secure AI deal assistant for a data-room first-pass review](https://ailawframework.com/practice/mergers-and-acquisitions-private-equity/use-a-secure-ai-deal-assistant-for-a-data-room-first-pass-review.md)

## How AI may be used

AI may sort data-room documents into the clean-team and ordinary folders from the lawyer's categories, and list people against the protocol; the lawyer decides what is competitively sensitive and who may see it.

**AI may:**

- Tag documents against the categories the lawyer has marked as clean-team only
- List named clean-team members and flag a person who is also in a pricing, sales or bidding role
- Compare a proposed integration step with the prohibited list in this protocol

**AI must not:**

- Must not decide that information is not competitively sensitive
- Must not put a person who sets prices or bids into the clean team
- Must not summarise clean-team information back to the commercial team in a form that reveals current prices, customers or bids

**The lawyer checks:**

- The clean team is limited to people who are not involved in commercial decisions, as the ACCC fact sheet describes that practice
- The protocol forbids coordination of prices, customers, bids or marketing before completion
- Disclosure is limited to what due diligence and integration planning actually require
- A notifiable acquisition is not completed, and the businesses are not integrated, before ACCC approval or a waiver

## Authorities

- [ACCC, Gun jumping risks for merger transactions (May 2019) (competitively sensitive information, integration before completion, cartel provisions in ss 45AA to 45AU, s 45 and s 50 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010)](https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/1565_Gun%20jumping%20fact%20sheet_FA.pdf)
- [ACCC, Mergers and acquisitions (from 1 January 2026 a notifiable acquisition must not proceed before approval or a waiver)](https://www.accc.gov.au/business/mergers-and-acquisitions)
- [Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) s 183 (officers and employees must not improperly use information obtained because of their position)](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ca2001172/s183.html)

## Full text and drafting notes

The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/mergers-and-acquisitions-private-equity/clean-team-protocol and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*