ACCC to not oppose proposed acquisition of Boral’s NSW concrete masonry business by Austral

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today announced that it would not oppose the proposed acquisition of Boral Ltd’s NSW concrete masonry business by Austral Masonry Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of Brickworks Limited.

“The ACCC’s view is that this acquisition is unlikely to lead to a substantial lessening of competition in any relevant market,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said.

“While the merged entity will have the largest share of the regional market for the manufacture and supply of concrete masonry products in the greater Sydney region after the acquisition, the ACCC’s inquiries confirmed that it will continue to face competitive constraint. Importantly, there will remain a number of competing concrete masonry producers, several of which have excess capacity following declining sales of concrete masonry products in recent years.”

“The ACCC also conducted market inquiries and found that customers were generally not concerned about the proposed acquisition,” Mr Sims said.

In addition, the availability of a number of substitute products would likely provide a further degree of constraint on any attempt by the merged firm to increase prices. Finally, the ACCC also considered that the threat of new entry would also impose some competitive constraint on the merged firm.

The basis upon which the ACCC has reached its decision will be outlined on the ACCC's Mergers Register www.accc.gov.au/MergersRegister