Back to Archive

Weekly ACCC Deal Digest (10 Feb 2026)

7 new, 8 approved, 2 rejected and 9 pending deals with ACCC up to 10 Feb 2026

This week’s MergerLoop features 7 new filings across industrial cleaning equipment, hospitality venues, mining services, logistics, enterprise software, healthcare diagnostics, and civil construction.

8 transactions were approved, 2 waiver applications were rejected, and 9 deals remain under assessment, including Phase 2 reviews for Ampol–EG Australia and Coles’ proposed Kalgoorlie supermarket and liquor site.

Forwarded this email? You can subscribe here for free to get next week’s edition.

❇️ New Deals

Freudenberg Home and Cleaning Solutions – Nilfisk

Freudenberg Home and Cleaning Solutions GmbH proposes to acquire 100 per cent of the shares in Nilfisk Holding A/S. Freudenberg supplies manual and chemical cleaning products in Australia, while Nilfisk supplies professional cleaning machines, accessories, and maintenance services, including floorcare, vacuum, and industrial cleaning equipment.

Bain Capital – MCJ

Bain Capital Investors, LLC proposes to acquire 100 per cent of the shares in MCJ Co., Ltd through a newly created SPV, BCPE Meta Cayman, L.P. MCJ is an integrated information and communications technology business listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, supplying information technology product repair and support services in Australia under the R-Logic brand.

MicroStar Logistics – Konvoy (Australian assets)

Kegstar Pty Limited, a subsidiary of MicroStar Logistics, proposes to acquire certain Australian assets of Konvoy Holdings Pty Limited, including kegs, tracking technology, selected employees, and a maintenance facility. Both parties supply pay-per-fill and keg leasing services to brewery customers in Australia.

Australian Venue Co. – four Sydney licensed venues

AVC Operations Pty Limited proposes to acquire the assets of four licensed venues in metropolitan Sydney: Public House Petersham, The Erko, The Golden Sheaf, and Barangaroo House. Australian Venue Co. operates pubs, bars, and licensed restaurants across Australia and New Zealand.

Parker-Hannifin – Filtration Group

Parker-Hannifin Corporation proposes to acquire 100 per cent of the shares in Filtration Group Corporation. Parker-Hannifin designs motion and control technologies for aerospace and defence, transportation, energy, HVAC and refrigeration. Filtration Group designs, manufactures and supplies filtration and separation products for life sciences, indoor air quality and industrial applications including in Australia.

IBM – Confluent

International Business Machines Corporation proposes to acquire 100 per cent of the shares in Confluent, Inc., a Nasdaq-listed company that provides Apache Kafka-based data streaming software for cloud-native and on-premise data infrastructure, enabling organisations to publish, subscribe to, store and process real-time data streams.

Symal Group – 80% of Davison Earthmovers

Symal Group Limited proposes to acquire an 80 per cent interest in the entity holding the business and assets of Davison Earthmovers. Symal is a national civil and infrastructure contractor, and Davison Earthmovers is a South Australian civil contractor specialising in earthworks and infrastructure services.

Still trying to wrap your head around the ACCC’s new merger laws?
We’ve got an overview of the new regime here and guides from leading law firms explaining it all.

✅ Recently Approved

Blackbird Ventures – Baseten Labs

Blackbird FOF25 Pty Ltd atf Blackbird Ventures 2025 Follow-On Fund Trust proposes to purchase Series E preferred stock in a capital raise by Baseten Labs, Inc. Baseten supplies an artificial intelligence inference platform enabling customers to run and train AI models across multi-cloud environments and locations.

Thermo Fisher Scientific – Clario Holdings

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will acquire all issued equity in Clario Holdings, Inc. Thermo Fisher supplies analytical instruments and contract research services, while Clario provides digital endpoint data capture and analytics services for clinical trials.

ServiceNow – Veza

ServiceNow, Inc. proposes to acquire Veza Technologies, Inc., combining ServiceNow’s workflow automation “Now Platform” with Veza’s identity governance capabilities. Veza’s Access Platform helps enterprises understand and control who has access to what data and systems by monitoring privileged access, automating access reviews, and supporting access governance.

Opal Healthcare – Sunnymeade Park Aged Care Community

Opal HealthCare proposes to acquire the land, assets, and business of Sunnymeade Park Aged Care Community. Sunnymeade Park operates a residential aged care facility with approximately 172 beds in Caboolture, Queensland. The transaction would add an additional aged care facility to Opal HealthCare’s portfolio.

Australian Venue Co. – leasehold and certain other assets of Quay Restaurant, Sydney

AVC Operations Pty Limited will acquire a leasehold interest, liquor licence, and selected assets of Quay Restaurant in Sydney. Australian Venue Co. operates licensed hospitality venues nationally.

Regent Motors Group – Esperance Motor Group (Esperance Toyota & Ford)

Albany Motors Pty Ltd, part of Regent Motors Group, acquired Esperance Motor Group. Esperance Motor Group operates Toyota and Ford dealerships in Esperance, Western Australia.

L Catterton Management – Ex Nihilo Group

Saphir Holdings SAS, controlled by L Catterton Management, acquired approximately 45 per cent of Ex Nihilo Group. Ex Nihilo is a luxury fragrance brand supplying high-end perfumes through global retail channels.

Danone – further 1% interest in Danone Saputo Dairy Australia

Danone Asia Pte Ltd acquired an additional 1 per cent interest in Danone Saputo Dairy Australia by exercising a call option, increasing its ownership to 51 per cent. The joint venture manufactures and wholesales fresh dairy products in Australia.

❌ Recently Rejected

Henkel – ATP Adhesive Systems Group

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, a German public company, proposed to acquire control of ATP Adhesive Systems Group, a private Swiss company. Both parties supply pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes in Australia, with overlap across industrial applications including automotive, construction and electronics. The ACCC also noted a vertical relationship, as Henkel supplies inputs used in the manufacture of adhesive tapes and rejected the waiver application.

Intrepid Travel – Wild Bush Luxury

Intrepid Travel Pty Ltd proposed to acquire 100% of Wild Bush Luxury Experience Pty Ltd. Both parties supply guided wilderness and premium adventure travel experiences in Australia, with overlapping operations in regions including Tasmania, the Northern Territory and South Australia. The ACCC rejected the waiver due to concerns about reduced competition in these localised tourism markets.

🔁 Pending Deals

Ampol – EG Australia

Ampol Limited proposes to acquire the EG Australia fuel and convenience retail network under a share purchase agreement. The transaction involves the transfer of ownership of fuel and convenience retail sites operating across Australia.

Coles – supermarket and liquor site in Kalgoorlie, WA

Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd proposes to acquire a leasehold interest in a new neighbourhood shopping centre in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. The site will operate as a large-format supermarket with an attached liquor store.

Google – Wiz

Google LLC proposes to acquire 100 per cent of the share capital in Wiz Inc. Wiz supplies cloud security software used to identify, monitor, and manage security risks across cloud environments.

L’Oréal – Kering Beauté

L’Oréal proposes to acquire Kering Beauté, including the Creed fragrance brand and long-term beauty licences for Balenciaga and Bottega Veneta. Kering Beauté operates in luxury fragrances and cosmetics. The transaction would expand L’Oréal’s portfolio of prestige beauty brands.

GE Healthcare – Intelerad

GE Healthcare proposes to acquire Intelerad. Intelerad supplies medical imaging software used for picture archiving, radiology reporting, and workflow management by hospitals and imaging providers. The transaction would combine medical imaging equipment and digital health software businesses.

Ramsay Health Care – National Capital Private Hospital

Ramsay Health Care proposes to acquire National Capital Private Hospital from Healthscope. The hospital operates as a private hospital in the Australian Capital Territory.

North American Construction Group – Iron Mining Contracting and Iron Hire

North American Construction Group Limited, via NACG WA Acquisition Pty Ltd, proposes to acquire 100 per cent of the shares in DCL Corp Pty Ltd, trading as Iron Mining Contracting, and Iron Hire Pty Ltd.

Symal Group – Timms Group and L&D Group

Symal Group Limited proposes to acquire the businesses and assets of Timms Group and L&D Group and related entities supplying civil construction and plant hire services in Queensland.

Abbott Laboratories – Exact Sciences

Abbott Laboratories proposes to acquire all shares in Exact Sciences Corporation. Abbott supplies healthcare products globally, while Exact Sciences develops molecular diagnostic tests focused on cancer screening and detection.