Toll Holdings Limited - acquisition of Westrans Freighters Pty Ltd

Market definition

For the purposes of this competition assessment, the relevant markets were considered to be

(i) the market for the supply of long haul road transport services for general freight on the Brisbane-Darwin corridor; and

(ii) the market for the supply of long haul road transport services for refrigerated freight on the Brisbane-Darwin corridor.

Competition analysis

The ACCC decided that the acquisition was unlikely to result in a substantial lessening of competition in the relevant markets. For the first market (general freight), factors informing this conclusion included:

- a number of competitors will remain in the market; and

- barriers to entry in the case of general road freight are relatively low.

For the second market (refrigerated freight), factors informing this conclusion included:

- the potential for entry over a relatively short space of time by other transport companies; and

- evidence that customers are likely to seek alternatives, including via sponsoring entry, in response to price rises above competitive levels or a reduction in the quality of service provided.