TRUEnergy Australia Pty Ltd - proposed acquisition of Sun Gas, Sun Retail
Type of assessment
Informal Review
Reference
25058
Acquirer(s)
TRUenergy Pty Ltd
Target(s)
Sun Gas Sun Retail
Industry
Gas & electricity
Summary
TRUenergy sought an informal clearance to acquire Sun Retail and Sun Gas, which were being sold by the Queensland Government pursuant to a tender process.
Outcome of assessment
Not opposed
Total review days *
20
Commenced public review
2nd August 2006
Date completed
29th August 2006
Market definition
The ACCC did not consider it was necessary to reach a conclusive view in relation to market definition for this matter. However, the likely key relevant markets were electricity retailing and gas retailing markets.
Competition analysis
TRUenergy and Sun Retail are both retailers of electricity to large or industrial customers in Queensland. As such, the proposed acquisition will result in some horizontal aggregation in Queensland.
Nevertheless, this aggregation is likely to be minor, given the relatively small scale of TRUenergy's operations in Queensland. No vertical integration issues arose in the ACCC's assessment.
Therefore, the ACCC considered that the proposed acquisition was unlikely to lead to a substantial lessening of competition.
Review timeline
Date
Event
2nd August 2006
ACCC commenced review under the Merger Review Process Guidelines. Market inquiries commenced
23rd August 2006
Closing date for submissions from interested parties
29th August 2006
ACCC announced that it would not oppose the proposed acquisition
* Total Review days = Total business days less public holidays and time during which the review was suspended.
