The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced on 15 September 2010 that it would be delaying its decision on the proposed joint venture between BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. According to the ACCC, the announcement was prompted by a request from BHP and Rio Tinto to hold off on a decision until further discussions with overseas regulators' had been conducted and to allow the companies to make further submissions to the ACCC.
The reference to overseas regulators is understood to refer to the European Commission's 'state-of-play' meeting, which will take place once the Commission's chief economist has supplied a final report on the proposed joint venture. At the meeting, the Commission is expected to tell the parties whether or not it is comfortable with the deal.
Rio Tinto and BHP, the second and third largest exporters of iron ore in the world, are aiming to save at least $10 billion in costs by combining their mines, rails and ports in the remote Pilbara region of Australia.
The ACCC commenced an 'informal review' on 7 December 2009 in accordance with the Australian Merger Review Process Guidelines. On 7 July 2010, the most recent proposed date for the announcement of the ACCC's findings (22 July 2010), was suspended at the request of the parties to allow them to make additional submissions to the ACCC. Following this latest announcement, the timeline is currently suspended and no new date for the ruling has been fixed
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