ACCC upset at persistent briefings on NAB and Axa

Graeme Samuel, chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, complained about NAB and Axa Asia Pacific, and the two firm's advisers, for extensively backgrounding business reporters on the ebb and flow of the two companies' efforts to work out an alternative deal for the bank's proposed takeover of the wealth management company.

The ACCC knocked back NAB's offer for Axa AP in April, though the regulator is still to publish its reasons as the parties seek to devise a modified plan that might win the regulator's approval.

"The ACCC is being caught at the margin in the whirlwind of speculation, innuendo and background briefing that is unprecedented, unacceptable and entirely unproductive," Samuel told The Australian.

"The ACCC will not allow itself to be caught up in a set of circumstances where the market is potentially being misinformed."

In a separate article in the newspaper Samuel is quoted saying: "I will be having some very strong words to say once this is out of the way.

"The ACCC's processes are being targeted for potential manipulation through innuendo and background briefing."

The Age reported that Samuel said, "This is leading to an uninformed market.''
Samuel said he'd received calls from managers of hedge funds but ''just deleted them.''

Hedge funds, as in most drawn-out takeover contests, have become prominent owners of stock of the target, in this case Axa Asia Pacific.

Axa AP requested a trading halt in its shares yesterday, leading to speculation that NAB and Axa may announce terms for a revised offer as soon as today, though in light of Samuel's comments reported in several newspapers it might be that Axa's board has finally decided to take a conservative view of the risks of allowing its shares to trade in an under-informed market.