Allowing Vodafone’s proposed $15 billion merger with TPG to go ahead if there were a real chance that TPG could seriously compete in the market for mobile services would have “profound social consequences,” the competition watchdog told the Federal Court Friday as it unsuccessfully sought to push back a hearing over the deal.
Elite competition groups Allens and Herbert Smith Freehills will represent Vodafone and TPG in their lawsuit filed Friday challenging the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s opposition to their proposed $15 billion tie-up.
TV giant Foxtel wants another shot at opposing a trade mark by telco China Unicom, after a judge let stand an IP Australia decision refusing to revoke the trade mark when law firm Allens missed a deadline for opposing the mark.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has apologised for botching the announcement of its plan to block the $15 billion merger of TPG and Vodafone, blaming a computer glitch for the error.
IP Australia has rejected an application by Huawei Technologies to register the trade mark Nova after a challenge by radio giant Nova Entertainment, with a delegate finding the Chinese telecommunications company had failed to prove its intention to use the mark.
Vodafone and TPG will file a Federal Court challenge to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s opposition to their proposed $15 billion merger, teeing up the biggest merger challenge ever heard by the court.
Pay TV giant Foxtel has lost an appeal of an IP Australia decision refusing to revoke a trade mark by telco China Unicom after a failure of the trade mark office’s online filing system meant its law firm, Allens, missed the deadline for opposing the mark.
Vocus Group has been hit with a shareholder class action alleging the telecommunications company made misleading statements ahead of a profit downgrade in 2017 that sent the price of shares tumbling.
Telecom giant Optus has been hit with a $25,000 criminal fine after pleading guilty to four charges of failing to disclose political donations in its development applications.
The ACCC will announce in May whether it will approve the proposed $15 billion merger of telco giants TPG and Vodafone Hutchison Australia, after the parties’ failure to comply with requests for information caused the regulator to suspend its timeline last month.