The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will not oppose the proposed acquisition of General Property Trust by the Stockland Group, ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today.
Stockland and GPT are two of Australia's largest property trusts, each owning a considerable number of investment properties, including, hotels, commercial office buildings, office parks, shopping centres and industrial buildings.
"Despite Stockland and GPT each having extensive portfolios of property interests, the only significant areas of overlap between the portfolios occur in retail shopping and commercial office buildings in NSW, particularly in the Sydney region", Mr Samuel said. "However the ACCC found that where Stockland and GPT own properties in close proximity, there are also other property owners who will act as a competitive constraint should the proposed acquisition proceed.
"In the commercial buildings market, the acquisition will lead to a moderate increase in concentration around the Sydney CBD. However Stockland is likely to face on-going competition from other property trusts, wholesale trusts, syndicated owners and private owners who are all active in the market place".
If the acquisition proceeds, Stockland will own three of the top 20 shopping centres in the Sydney metropolitan area measured by lettable area. Other prominent shopping centre owners include Westfield, Centro and Gandel.
The ACCC also looked at the effect of the proposed acquisition in regional areas, and it was found that Stockland would continue to face on-going competition from rival shopping centres in major population areas such as Newcastle, Wollongong and Gosford.
"Accordingly, the ACCC formed the view that the proposed acquisition is unlikely to substantially lessen competition".