Australian Merger Statistics

Your Local Experts in Merger Analysis

Brattle’s Sydney-based team assists clients in evaluating the competitive effects of mergers and acquisitions by providing rigorous economic advice, advanced data analytics, and cost analysis. We have hands-on experience of all steps of the merger review process, with the ability to use cutting-edge tools to analyse complex datasets.

We provide clear, timely, and practical advice to clients on the best approaches to assess the competitive effects of mergers, tailored to the particular characteristics of the industry involved and the available public and private information and data. We are highly familiar with the approaches of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and other competition authorities, and apply global best practices in merger assessment.

We draw on expertise in economics, data analytics, accounting, surveying and econometrics, and collaborate closely with world-class experts across our international offices. Please contact Luke.Wainscoat@brattle.com for more information.

Analysis of ACCC’s Merger Statistics

Below is an analysis of mergers notified to the ACCC, including:

• How many mergers are being notified
• How long merger reviews are taking
• The industries involved in the mergers being reviewed
• The outcomes of the merger review process

This analysis is for mergers and waivers notified up to the end of February 2026. We welcome feedback and ideas for further analysis. All the data used in the analysis below is sourced from the ACCC’s acquisition registers, available here. We used the data available as at 3 March 2026.

1. How many mergers are being notified? 

The ACCC estimated that it would conduct 8.3 waiver reviews and 27.9 phase 1 merger reviews per month (see Consultation Paper). The chart below shows that the ACCC has received more waivers and less phase 1 merger reviews than it expected since the beginning of 2026.

2. How long is the ACCC taking to assess mergers? 

Note: We include days when the clock has been stopped (in other words, we include all business days). We only include mergers where the assessment (waiver or phase 1) has been completed in the data we are using.

Assessment of mergers that go to Phase 2 takes substantially longer, with the two mergers in Phase 2 expected to take:

• 197 actual days for Ampol’s acquisition of EG Australia; and
• 238 actual days for Coles’ acquisition of a supermarket and liquor site in Kalgoorlie.

3. What industries are notifying mergers?

4. What are the outcomes of the merger reviews?