Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas has weighed into the debate about Tabcorp’s $11 billion merger plan with Tatts as the case heads to court today to secure regulatory approval.
Mr Pallas said today that if there was to be a merger, he encouraged any merged entity to remain in Victoria and continue to grow.
“We are proud to have had Tabcorp headquartered in Melbourne for many years. The company has made a significant contribution to this state,” he said.
The Australian Competition Tribunal starts hearings on the case in Melbourne today, with opening statements from Tabcorp (TAH) and Tatts (TTS) and those opposed to the deal, which include Racing Victoria and CrownBet.
One issue to be debated in the hearings is media rights in relation to racing vision. Tabcorp, which owns SkyRacing, has the monopoly on the vision and major wagering rival Sportsbet has argued that the proposed merger could continue the “lockdown” of racing’s valuable media rights.
A list of racing industry heads have submitted second statements to the tribunal, following the concerns raised by those opposed to the deal, to reject the potential negative impacts highlighted.
Thoroughbred Racing South Australia chief executive Jim Watters said he had recently run a tender process for the state’s media rights until 2024. He pointed out that despite concerns a Tabcorp/Tatts merger would lessen competition for the media rights, Tatts had never previously inquired about the racing vision.
“The proposed merger would not, in my view, either decrease TRSA’s bargaining power in relation to the sale of its media rights nor the value of those rights,” he said.
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission also raised concerns about the impact the planned merger would have on media rights.
Eliot Forbes, chief executive of Racing Queensland, said in his second statement that despite raising concerns about the merger with the ACCC when it started its informal review of the deal, his view had now changed following supplementary information from Tabcorp.
Richard Burt, the chief executive of Racing and Wagering Western Australia, also supplied a second statement, clarifying that earlier concerns he had about the merger had been eased after extra talks with Tabcorp. www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mergers-acquisitions/victorian-treasurer-tim-pallas-weighs-in-on-tabcorptatts-tieup/news-story/febf93057a290ee36d8e7bf0a4917854
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