ACCC delays finding on CBA's Count Financial takeover
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has extended its review of Commonwealth Bank's proposed acquisition of Count Financial. The ACCC was due to announce its findings on November 3 but has asked for more information from Commonwealth and has suspended the timeline of the review.The ACCC is considering the proposed acquisition under section 50 of the Competition and Consumer Act, which prohibits mergers and acquisitions that substantially lessen competition in a market or are likely to do so.The ACCC has identified "four key areas of overlap" between Commonwealth and Count. They are financial planning and advisory services, retail investment platforms, lending services, and insurance.The area the ACCC is likely to focus on is financial planning and advisory services. Commonwealth has an advice business employing 1220 planners and Count has 730. The combined group would be one of the biggest in the country.Early last week Count sent out a scheme booklet to its shareholders setting out the details of the CBA proposal. A scheme meeting will be held on November 25.