Competition and Consumer Act 2010

This section applies in relation to a notification of an acquisition if the Federal Court is satisfied that:

as part of putting the acquisition into effect, a notifying party of the notification, or a related body corporate, acquired a thing (including a share in the capital of a body corporate, any assets of a person or a thing determined under paragraph 51ABB(2)(a)); and

the Commission made an acquisition determination in respect of the notification; and

apart from the determination, putting the acquisition into effect would have contravened Subdivision B of Division 1A of Part IV; and

subsection (2) or (3) applies.

This subsection applies if:

the Commission made the determination on the basis of information that was false or misleading in a material particular; and

the information was material to the Commission making the acquisition determination; and

the information was given by:

the notifying party of the notification; or

a related body corporate; and

the Court or another court has found that the person who gave the information contravened section 45AZB of this Act or Part 7.4 of the Criminal Code by giving that information.

This subsection applies if:

putting the acquisition into effect is subject to a condition; and

the condition is not complied with.

The Federal Court may, on the application of the Commission, by order, give directions for the purpose of securing the disposal of anything acquired as mentioned in paragraph (1)(a).

The Federal Court may, on the application of the Commission, by order, declare that the acquisition mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) is void as from the day on which it occurred.

However, the Court may make an order under subsection (5) only if, in addition to the Court being satisfied of the matters in subsection (1), the Court, or another court, has found that the person (the vendor) from whom the thing was acquired was involved in:

the contravention mentioned in paragraph (2)(d); or

the non‑compliance mentioned in paragraph (3)(b).

If the Court makes an order under subsection (5) in relation to the acquisition of a thing, then:

the thing is taken not to have been disposed of by the vendor; and

the vendor must refund to the acquirer any amount paid to the vendor for acquiring the thing.

If an application is made to the Court for an order under subsection (4) or (5) against a person, the Court may, instead of making an order of the kind mentioned in that subsection, accept, upon such conditions (if any) as the Court thinks fit, an undertaking by the person to dispose of any other thing owned by the person.

An application under subsection (4) or (5) may be made at any time within 3 years after the day on which the acquisition was put into effect.

If an application for an order under subsection (4) or (5) is made, the Court may, if the Court determines it to be appropriate, make an order by consent of all the parties to the proceedings, whether or not the Court is satisfied of:

for an order under subsection (4)—the matters in subsection (1); and

for an order under subsection (5)—the matters in subsections (1) and (6).