Personal healthcare giant PZ Cussons is seeking $4.7 million in indemnity costs from the ACCC, claiming the regulator’s much hyped spoke and hub case over an alleged laundry detergent cartel was always “overwhelmingly likely” to fail.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says it has no grounds to challenge a ruling that found the $15 billion merger of Vodafone with telecommunications rival TPG would not substantially lessen competition.
A judge has granted a request by Otsuka and Bristol-Myers Squibbs to withdraw admissions in proceedings brought by Generic Health seeking damages, after the generic drug maker was temporarily blocked from selling a generic version of antipsychotic Abilify in a patent dispute in which it ultimately triumphed.
Westpac has criticised Shine Lawyers for allegedly turning a registration and opt out notice to class action members into a ‘sales pitch’ designed to book-build for the firm, saying the High Court’s recent common fund ruling forbade approval of anything designed to boost the commercial viability of a case.
The lead applicants in seven class actions against auto manufacturers over explosive Takata airbags have criticised the courts for losing their way in ensuring justice is done, in a landmark challenge to class closure orders made in the cases.
Clive Palmer and his company Mineralogy have survived a High Court challenge by Hong-Kong based CITIC to a ruling that put it on the hook for at least $224 million in unpaid royalties from producton at the Sino Iro mine, but a related $297 million suit by Palmer against the Chinese conglomerate has flopped.
An ACCC officer who was heading up a team investigating alleged cartel conduct by ANZ Banking Group and three investment banks has admitted that the regulator may have made an ‘oversight’ in a letter of comfort offered to JPMorgan ahead of the bank’s immunity application in the case.
Vodafone has won its case against the ACCC over its proposed merger with rival telecommunications company TPG, with a judge ruling the tie-up would not substantially lessen competition and had a real chance of becoming a “competitive force” against the two dominant players in the market, Telstra and Optus.
During another day of cross-examination in a criminal cartel case against ANZ and two investment banks, a key ACCC officer was accused of lying about his interrogation of a key cartel witness, with the officer insisting there was nothing “sinister” in his examination.
The funder behind a class action against Westpac over allegedly excessive insurance premiums has confirmed that it will continue backing the case despite earlier concerns it may pull out in the wake of the High Court’s landmark ruling on common fund orders.