ACCC v Cryosite

Federal Court of Australia
[2019] FCA 116 (13 February 2019) (Justice Beach)

Keywords

cartels - gun jumping - mergers

Legislation

Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) - s 44ZZRD - s 44ZZRJ - s 44ZZRK - s 76

Overview

In 2018 The ACCC instituted proceedings against Cryosite for alleged cartel conduct relating to an asset sale agreement with Cell Care Australia.

The asset sale agreement 'required Cryosite to refer all customer enquiries to Cell Care after the agreement was signed but before the acquisition was completed' and the ACCC alleges that this constituted 'gun jumping' and amounted to 'cartel conduct because it restricted or limited Cryosite’s supply of cord blood and tissue banking services and allocated potential customers from Cryosite to Cell Care'.