The Valspar Corporation - proposed acquisition of Wattyl Limited
Type of assessment
Informal Review
Reference
42301
Acquirer(s)
The Valspar Corporation
Target(s)
Wattyl Limited
Industry
Paint
Outcome of assessment
Not opposed
Total review days *
19
Commenced public review
26th July 2010
Date completed
19th August 2010
Market definition
The ACCC considered the proposed acquisition within the context of a national market for the manufacture and supply of industrial coatings, however it was not necessary for the ACCC to reach a conclusive view on market definition as the outcome of the competition assessment would not have been affected.
Competition analysis
The ACCC formed the view that the proposed acquisition would be unlikely to result in a substantial lessening of competition in any relevant market for the following reasons:
- there is limited horizontal overlap between the merger parties in the supply of industrial coatings in Australia and the proposed acquisition would not result in any significant aggregation within the relevant market;
- there are a number of alternative suppliers of industrial coatings in Australia which would be likely to impose an effective competitive constraint on the merged firm in particular Akzo Nobel, PPG, Mirotone, Dulux and Du Pont; and
- independent imports of industrial coatings would provide a credible competitive constraint on the merged firm and barriers to import expansion appeared to be low.
Review timeline
Date
Event
26th July 2010
ACCC commenced review under the Merger Review Process Guidelines.
6th August 2010
Closing date for submissions from interested parties.
19th August 2010
ACCC announced it would not oppose the proposed acquisition.
* Total Review days = Total business days less public holidays and time during which the review was suspended.
