Australian fuel retail market under spotlight as ACCC reviews Ampol bid

Australia’s substance retail marketplace is facing accrued regulatory attraction aft the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) referred Ampol Limited’s projected acquisition of EG Australia to a Phase 2 merger review.

The determination reflects preliminary concerns that the transaction could weaken contention successful the retail proviso of petrol and diesel crossed respective metropolitan and determination areas.

The Phase 2 reappraisal places the projected woody nether much elaborate introspection arsenic portion of Australia’s recently implemented mandatory merger power framework. Under this system, transactions that whitethorn rise contention risks indispensable person regulatory clearance earlier completion.

Ampol is 1 of Australia’s largest substance retailers, operating a nationwide web of work stations, portion EG Australia runs hundreds of substance and convenience sites pursuing its acquisition of Woolworths’ petrol concern successful 2019.

The ACCC has identified important overlap betwixt the 2 businesses successful aggregate section markets.

In its archetypal assessment, the regulator flagged much than 100 locations wherever the merger could trim competitory pressure, peculiarly successful large municipality centres specified arsenic Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra.

The ACCC indicated that reduced contention successful these areas could impact substance prices and user choice.

Ampol projected divesting a constricted fig of retail substance sites arsenic a remedy. The ACCC determined that the projected divestments did not adequately code the contention concerns identified astatine either the section oregon broader metropolitan level, prompting the escalation to Phase 2.

The referral is 1 of the archetypal large tests of Australia’s updated merger reappraisal regime, which came into effect successful aboriginal 2026. The caller rules present a ceremonial two-stage process, with Phase 1 designed for quicker assessments and Phase 2 reserved for transactions that rise much analyzable contention issues.

A Phase 2 reappraisal allows the ACCC to question further accusation from the merging parties, competitors, suppliers and different marketplace participants. The process involves a much elaborate investigation of marketplace structure, pricing behaviour and barriers to entry, and tin widen for respective months.

Under the existent timetable, stakeholders person been invited to supply submissions arsenic the ACCC continues its probe into the imaginable interaction of the Ampol and EG Australia combination.

The result of the ACCC reappraisal could person wider implications for consolidation successful the Australian substance retail market, which has seen expanding attraction implicit the past decade.