Weekly ACCC Deal Digest (25 Feb 2026)
9 new, 13 decisions, 0 rejections, and 13 pending deals with ACCC up to 24 Feb 2026
Merger Loop
February 25, 2026
This week’s MergerLoop features 9 new filings across financial services, events technology, industrial adhesives, private equity software investments, agribusiness, hospitality venues, professional audio equipment and conversation automation software.
13 decisions were published. 13 deals remain under assessment, including ongoing 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
Cvent – ON24
Cvent Atlanta, LLC proposes to acquire ON24, Inc. through the merger of an indirect wholly owned subsidiary with ON24, with ON24 surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary. Cvent supplies meetings, events and hospitality technology, including event marketing and management platforms. ON24 provides webinar and virtual event engagement software and related analytics tools.
MicroStar Logistics – Konvoy
Kegstar Pty Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of MicroStar Logistics, LLC, proposes to acquire certain Australian assets of Konvoy Holdings Pty Limited, including kegs, keg tracking hardware and software, select employees and a repair facility. Both parties supply pay-per-fill keg management and leasing services to brewery customers in Australia. The transaction is an asset acquisition.
Henkel – ATP Adhesives Systems Group
Henkel AG & Co. KGaA proposes to acquire all shares in ATP Adhesives Systems Group GmbH from ATP Adhesives Holdings LP. Henkel supplies industrial adhesives, sealants and functional coatings in Australia, including tapes and labels adhesives. ATP manufactures pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes, supplying water-based variants in Australia. The transaction is a share acquisition.
Hg Capital – OneStream
Hg Pooled Management Limited, through a special purpose vehicle, proposes to acquire 100% of the share capital in OneStream, Inc and OneStream Software LLC. Hg Capital is a private equity firm with portfolio companies supplying enterprise performance management software. OneStream supplies financial consolidation, planning and reporting software through its Digital Finance Cloud platform. The transaction is a share acquisition.
Craig Mostyn – Patmore Feeds
Craig Mostyn Farms Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Craig Mostyn Holdings Pty Limited, proposes to acquire 100% of the shares in Patmore Feeds Pty Ltd. Craig Mostyn is an Australian agribusiness engaged in animal husbandry and meat processing. Patmore Feeds produces pelletised livestock feed in Western Australia.
Australian Venue Co. – An Sibin Irish Pub
AVC Operations Pty Limited proposes to acquire 100% of the business and assets of Ash Promotions Pty Ltd trading as An Sibin Irish Pub under an asset sale agreement. Australian Venue Co operates licensed pubs, bars and restaurants across Australia and New Zealand. The target is a pub located in Northbridge, Western Australia. The transaction is an asset acquisition.
Audiotonix – Soundtech Group
Audiotonix Limited proposes to acquire 100% of the shares and sole control of Soundtech Group S.r.l. through special purpose vehicles. Audiotonix designs and manufactures professional audio mixing consoles and related equipment. Soundtech Group supplies microphones, wireless microphone systems and related audio technology. The transaction is a share acquisition.
Salesforce – Qualified
Salesforce, Inc. proposes to acquire all outstanding voting securities of Qualified.com, Inc. Salesforce supplies customer relationship management software and artificial intelligence-enabled solutions. Qualified supplies an artificial intelligence-based sales development representative product that integrates with Salesforce’s customer relationship management platform. The transaction is a share acquisition.
Charter Hall Holdings – JGS Private Capital
Charter Hall Holdings Pty Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Charter Hall Limited (ASX: CHC), proposes to acquire 100% of JGS Private Capital Pty Ltd from J.G. Service Pty Limited. Charter Hall Holdings operates a property investment and management business and serves as trustee of land-holding trusts. JGS Private Capital operates an investment and property management business and serves as trustee of eight unit trusts holding interests in commercial real estate and one finance trust. Through the transaction, Charter Hall Holdings will acquire the right to manage and control the trusts and their underlying assets, with beneficial ownership remaining with CareSuper Pty Ltd.
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
Symal Group – Timms Group and L&D Group
Symal Group Limited proposes to acquire all of the business and assets of the Timms business from Timms Contracting Pty Ltd, Timms Hire Pty Ltd and Teagun Investments Pty Ltd, and the L&D business from Churinga (Investments) Pty Ltd and Adawin Pty Ltd. Symal is an Australian construction and engineering contractor. The transaction is an asset acquisition.
Symal Group – 80% acquisition of Davison Earthmovers
Symal Group Limited proposes to acquire 80% of the entity owning the business and assets of Davison Earthmovers. Symal Group is an Australian contractor providing construction and engineering services. Davison Earthmovers supplies earthmoving services and equipment. The transaction involves an 80% share acquisition following a corporate restructure.
Abbott Laboratories – Exact Sciences
Abbott Laboratories proposes to acquire 100% of the shares in Exact Sciences Corporation through a merger. Abbott supplies diagnostics, medical devices and pharmaceuticals. Exact Sciences supplies molecular diagnostic products focused on cancer screening and precision oncology. The transaction is a share acquisition.
Australian Retirement Trust – Interests in non-rental income (Westfield Sydney)
Australian Retirement Trust Pty Ltd, as trustee of the Australian Retirement Trust, has agreed to acquire either a 19.9% interest in certain digital advertising assets and associated non-rental income streams at Westfield Sydney, or only the relevant non-rental income streams, from Scentre Group entities. The transaction forms part of a broader investment in Westfield Sydney and is an asset acquisition.
Apollo Funds led consortium – Lecta Group
Funds managed by subsidiaries of Apollo Global Management will indirectly acquire sole control of Lecta Paper Industries Intermediate Financing S.à r.l. by way of a debt-to-equity swap as part of a financial restructuring. The acquisition will be implemented through a new holding company acquiring all common equity in Lecta. Lecta manufactures and supplies specialty and publishing papers. The transaction is a share acquisition.
Superloop – Lynham Networks
Superloop Limited proposes to acquire 100% of the shares in Lynham Networks Pty Ltd. Superloop supplies retail and wholesale fibre-to-the-premises broadband services. Lynham Networks builds and operates wholesale fibre networks for residential developments and also supplies retail broadband through Lightning Broadband. The transaction is a share acquisition.
Francisco Partners – Sermo
Sigrun Bidco Limited, controlled by funds advised by Francisco Partners Management, L.P., proposes to acquire 83% of the shares in Sermo Limited under a share purchase agreement, with the balance to be retained by Sermo’s founder and chief executive officer. Sermo operates a global medical social platform supplying healthcare professionals, including in Australia. The transaction is a share acquisition.
General Atlantic and CPP Investments led consortium – Boats Group
Funds managed by General Atlantic and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board propose to indirectly acquire interests in Boats Group Holdings, Inc by acquiring interests in Bimini Holdings, LP, which indirectly owns 100% of Boats Group. Boats Group operates online marketplaces for recreational boats and yachts globally. Permira Holdings Limited will retain an interest post-completion. The transaction is a share acquisition.
Playlist – EGYM
EGYM SE and Mindbody, Inc., together with its controlled subsidiaries trading under the Playlist brand, intend to combine in a newly established holding company, Saturn NewCo, Inc., with shares issued to the existing shareholders of each party. The businesses supply fitness equipment, software and aggregation services to gyms, studios and corporate customers. The transaction is a share combination.
Sony – Peanuts Worldwide
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. and Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. propose to acquire 100% of the voting securities of DHX Entertainment (USA) Inc., which holds a controlling interest in Peanuts Worldwide. Peanuts Worldwide owns and licenses intellectual property rights in the Peanuts brand, including related film and television content. The transaction is a share acquisition.
NEC Corporation – CSG Systems International
NEC Corporation proposes to acquire all issued and outstanding shares in CSG Systems International, Inc. by way of a reverse triangular merger with its wholly owned subsidiary. NEC supplies information technology services and telecommunications infrastructure, and CSG provides customer engagement and billing software to telecommunications and other industries. The transaction is a share acquisition by merger.
HCLTech – Jaspersoft
HCL Technologies Limited proposes to acquire Jaspersoft, a business unit of Cloud Software Group that supplies reporting software, including JasperReports®. HCLTech is a global technology company providing software and digital services, including data management and analytics solutions. Jaspersoft supplies embedded reporting and dashboard software to organisations and independent software vendors. The transaction is an asset acquisition.
Laundy Group – Nine Radio
Spike Media Pty Ltd, controlled by Arthur Laundy, proposes to acquire 100% of the shares in Nine Radio Pty Limited from Fairfax Media Limited, a subsidiary of Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings Limited. Nine Radio operates commercial radio stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, and distributes content via broadcast, streaming and podcasts. The transaction is a share acquisition.
❌ Recently Rejected
No rejections published since last edition.
🔁 Pending Deals
Ampol – EG Australia
Notification | Phase 2 (detailed assessment) | submitted 10 Oct 2025 | expected 5 Jun 2026 MN-01019 ↗
Coles – supermarket and liquor site in Kalgoorlie, WA
Notification | Phase 2 (detailed assessment) | submitted 27 Nov 2025 | expected 12 Jun 2026 MN-01068 ↗
GE Healthcare – Intelerad
Notification | Phase 1 (initial assessment) | submitted 20 Jan 2026 | expected 4 Mar 2026 MN-01074 ↗
IBM – Confluent
Notification | Phase 1 (initial assessment) | submitted 4 Feb 2026 | expected 19 Mar 2026 MN-10001 ↗
Australian Venue Co. – four licensed venues in metropolitan Sydney
Notification | Phase 1 (initial assessment) | submitted 6 Feb 2026 | expected 23 Mar 2026 MN-10006 ↗
ServiceNow – Armis
Notification | Phase 1 (initial assessment) | submitted 13 Feb 2026 | expected 30 Mar 2026 MN-25004 ↗
Freudenberg Home and Cleaning Solutions – Nilfisk
Notification | Phase 1 (initial assessment) | submitted 9 Feb 2026 | expected 24 Mar 2026 MN-70005 ↗
Parker-Hannifin – Filtration Group
Notification | Phase 1 (initial assessment) | submitted 5 Feb 2026 | expected 20 Mar 2026 MN-75004 ↗
Bain Capital – MCJ
Notification | Phase 1 (initial assessment) | submitted 6 Feb 2026 | expected 23 Mar 2026 MN-80002 ↗
North American Construction Group – Iron Mine Contracting
Notification | Phase 1 (initial assessment) | submitted 30 Jan 2026 | expected 16 Mar 2026 MN-85003 ↗
Sembcorp Industries Ltd – Alinta Energy
Notification | Phase 1 (initial assessment) | submitted 13 Feb 2026 | expected 30 Mar 2026 MN-95001 ↗
CVS Group – Pittwater Animal Hospital
Notification | Phase 1 (initial assessment) | submitted 13 Feb 2026 | expected 30 Mar 2026 MN-95003 ↗
Apex – Mercer Administration Services and related assets
Notification | (Phase 1 – initial assessment) | notified 17 Feb 2026 | determination due 1 Apr 2026 MN-10005