ACCC clears Coles' double lease acquisition subject to divestment
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will not oppose Coles' acquisition of two leasehold interests for new supermarkets in Mount Atkinson and Deanside in Victoria, subject to a court-enforceable undertaking.
The context: The undertaking requires Coles to divest its ownership and interest in a site in nearby Kororoit. The regulator said the two proposed acquisitions, combined with Coles' existing interest in the Kororoit site, would have meant consumers would have "limited choice" in the local area.
Mount Atkinson, Deanside and Kororoit are all in close proximity in the Melton Growth Corridor, northwest of Melbourne.
Coles will sell the Kororoit site to Neale Deanside Developments, which trades as Oreana, so that it will be available for a competitor to enter the local area.
What they said: “Without the divestiture undertaking, the proposed acquisitions would have given Coles three supermarkets within close proximity to each other, in local areas with few alternative sites suitable for supermarkets and few existing competitors,” ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh said.
“In an area in which Coles already had a significant supermarket presence, we were concerned Coles would control most of the sites suitable for large format supermarkets within 5km of the target sites.”
The source: ACCC media release
