Checklist · Mergers & Acquisitions / Private Equity
ACCC merger notification screening worksheet
A worksheet to screen a share or asset acquisition against the ACCC notification thresholds, the control and Chapter 6 exemptions, and the rule that a notifiable acquisition must not proceed before approval or a waiver.
- Kind
- Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Where it applies
- Australia
- AI use
- Yellow You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at
- 22 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 22 October 2026 against the 2 authorities it cites, for Australia.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use at the start of a deal, and again before signing and before completion, for any acquisition of shares or assets connected with Australia. It is a screen, not the notification itself.
Used for these tasks
- Screen the deal against the current merger-notification thresholds
- Prepare the information request for merger notification screening
Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.
How AI may be used
AI may fill the revenue and transaction-value rows from the client's figures and the data room, and list which threshold or exemption might apply; the lawyer decides whether notification is required.
AI may
- Enter the Australian revenue and global transaction value the client has supplied, and show the arithmetic against each threshold
- List prior acquisitions in the last 3 years that the client says involve the same or substitutable goods or services
- Extract conditions and the approval or waiver status from any ACCC correspondence already on the file
AI must not
- Must not decide that an exemption applies, or that the target is not carrying on business in Australia
- Must not lodge a notification or a waiver request
- Must not treat a waiver application as permission to complete
The lawyer checks
- Each revenue figure is the figure the Competition and Consumer Act and the threshold instrument require, not a management EBITDA
- The control exemption and the Chapter 6 voting-power exemption are tested against the primary law, including the 16 September 2026 changes
- Creeping-acquisition additions exclude the categories the ACCC lists, and asset and voting-power rules that commenced on 1 April 2026 are applied
- If notification is required, completion is conditional on approval or a waiver, and the parties do not proceed before that
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
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