ACCC not to oppose proposed acquisition of Royal P&O Nedlloyd N.V. by A.P. Møller-Mærsk A/S

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will not oppose the proposed acquisition by A.P. Møller-Mærsk A/S (Mærsk) of Royal P&O Nedlloyd N.V (PONL), in light of court-enforceable undertakings provided by Mærsk to withdraw PONL from a number of conferences, consortia and discussion agreements on Australian trade routes, ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today.

"The ACCC was concerned by competition issues in the market for containerised shipping on Australian trade routes", Mr Samuel said. "In particular, the ACCC was concerned that the acquisition would provide a link between Mærsk and a number of conferences, consortia and discussion agreements on Australian trade routes".

The ACCC's inquiries focused on trade routes to and from Australia and considered whether the parties' market shares and the links that would be created to the conferences, consortia and discussion agreements would have any anti-competitive effect.

When it sought informal clearance from the ACCC, Mærsk indicated it intended to withdraw PONL from conferences, consortia and discussion agreements relevant to Australian trade routes to which Mærsk is not a member.  Mærsk subsequently formalised this intention by providing a court-enforceable undertaking. In addition, Mærsk has provided an undertaking not to re-enter those agreements from which it will withdraw PONL for a period of five years.

This proposal was also considered by the European Commission with whom the ACCC liaised in considering the clearance request. The undertaking provided by Mærsk to the ACCC is similar to the commitments provided by Mærsk to the European Commission.

The European Commission announced its decision on Friday 29 July 2005 to clear the acquisition by Mærsk conditional upon Mærsk divesting PONL's business on the trade between Europe and South Africa and withdrawing PONL from several conferences and consortia.

"Following the offer of court-enforceable undertakings by the parties, the ACCC is satisfied that its concerns will be addressed", Mr Samuel said.

Mærsk is the world's largest shipping company and its main operations in Australia relate to international containerised liner shipping services. PONL's principal business in Australia also relates to containerised liner shipping services. PONL is currently an active member of a number of conferences, consortia and discussion agreements on Australian trade routes to which Mærsk is not a member.

Background

Part X of the Trade Practices Act 1974 provides international liner cargo shipping an exemption from some anti-competitive conduct prohibitions contained in Part IV of the Act. This includes conferences, consortia and discussion agreements which allow groupings of shipping companies to coordinate aspects of a trade route.

The Productivity Commission undertook a review of Part X in 2004 and recommended the removal of the exemptions granted to the international liner cargo shipping industry. In its place, the Productivity Commission recommended that exemption from anti-competitive conduct prohibitions be available to the shipping lines on a case-by-case basis. The Australian Government is currently considering its response to the Productivity Commission report.