***Newsflash*** ACCC blocks NAB's bid for AXA
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has again blocked National Australia Bank's proposed acquisition of AXA Asia Pacific.
The ACCC said it maintained its initial opposition of the bid on the basis that NAB's revised bid, which included divesting AXA's North platform to IOOF, did not "provide sufficient certainty that the ACCC's competition concerns will be addressed".
The ACCC considered that IOOF did not have sufficient distribution capability to provide an effective competitive constraint on existing key players in the foreseeable future, and as such, competition, particularly in the platform space, would be constrained if NAB's proposed acquisition was allowed to proceed.
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