Opposition is growing to the Australian Competition Tribunal's authorisation of a proposed $11 billion merger of gaming giants Tabcorp and Tatts Group.
Online betting firm CrownBet, which is 62 per cent-owned by James Packer-controlled casinos operator Crown Resorts, has joined the consumer watchdog in calling for a judicial review of the tribunal's decision.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's application was made earlier this week, as it believes the tribunal may have made three errors of law in its decision.
It is believed that CrownBet's application has the same basis as that of the ACCC.
Tabcorp has already said it will oppose the ACCC's application and that Tabcorp and Tatts remained committed to their proposed merger.
"Tabcorp confirms that it will also oppose the CrownBet application and will pursue an expedited hearing of the matter," Tabcorp said on Thursday.
The ACCC claims the tribunal made errors that are fundamental to the case and to future merger assessments.
Tabcorp initially sought informal merger clearance from the ACCC but, shortly after the watchdog published a statement of issues in March, withdrew the application and instead lodged an application for authorisation with the Australian Competition Tribunal.
The ACCC and Australian Competition Tribunal apply different tests when assessing a merger.
The ACCC considers if there would be a substantial lessening of competition, while the tribunal can authorise a merger if the public benefits outweigh the public detriments.
The tribunal granted authorisation for the Tatts-Tabcorp merger in June, saying the merger would create substantial public benefits and no material detriment.
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