ACCC accepts Qube's enforceable undertaking for MIRRAT buyout
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The news: Qube's proposed acquisition of Melbourne International RoRo & Auto Terminal (MIRRAT) has been approved by the competition regulator, which accepted a court-enforceable undertaking offered by the logistics group.
The numbers: The $332.5 million acquisition, which will be funded from Qube's undrawn debt facilities, is expected to complete on 1 May.
The context: The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) accepted the court-enforceable undertaking, which prevents Qube, its subsidiary Australian Amalgamated Terminals (AAT) and MIRRAT from discriminating against downstream rivals at Webb Dock West at the Port of Melbourne.
The undertaking also imposes additional obligations on AAT in relation to its operations at Port Kembla in New South Wales, Fisherman Islands in Queensland and Apple Dock in Melbourne.
The ACCC outlined competition concerns with the buyout in October. It said the acquisition of MIRRAT, the only dedicated roll-on, roll-off terminal servicing the Victorian market, would permit Qube to acquire sole operating rights for roll-on, roll-off trade through the Port of Melbourne.
What they said: "The ACCC concluded that, in the absence of adequate safeguards, Qube, through its ownership of MIRRAT, would likely have the ability and incentive to discriminate against rival stevedores and [pre-delivery inspection] providers at Webb Dock West," said ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb.
"The ACCC also considered whether, by operating all three of the major east coast automotive terminals, Qube, through AAT and MIRRAT, could have an increased ability and incentive to discriminate against rivals at each of the terminals in a way that would hard downstream competition," she said.
"With these significant conerns in mind, the ACCC only decided not to oppose the acquisition with a strong court-enforceable undertaking from Qube, AAT and MIRRAT."
Qube managing director Paul Digney said: "While it took longer than anticipated to reach this point, the sensible improvements in the new undertaking reflect changes in both the market and the terminal's operations over the past seven years and achieve a more contemporary framework for AAT and MIRRAT going forward."
