Viva Energy’s proposed acquisition of OTR Group has not been opposed by the ACCC, after committing to divesting 25 Coles Express sites in South Australia.
The ACCC’s review focused on areas in which the OTR Group and Viva Energy’s operations overlap, which is predominantly in SA and the Northern Territory. The ACCC considered the competition effects at both the retail and wholesale levels.
“Without the divestiture, the proposed acquisition would combine the largest retail fuel network in SA with Viva Energy’s retail network, providing Viva Energy with an extended network that is significantly larger than its next largest rival,” says ACCC Commissioner Stephen Ridgeway.
“The ACCC was concerned that the proposed acquisition would adversely affect competition and reduce choice for consumers in Adelaide and Ceduna.”
Viva Energy initially offered to divest 23 of its 32 retail sites in Adelaide. However, the number of sites to be divested increased to 25 (24 in Adelaide and one in Ceduna) in response to concerns raised by the ACCC.
The ACCC has approved Chevron as the purchaser of the 25 Coles Express sites to be divested.
In exchange for the 25 divestiture sites, Viva Energy will receive 13 Chevron sites located in Queensland, NSW and Western Australia.
“As part of our assessment, we took into account Chevron’s previous and current experience in the Australian fuel industry, as well as its financial capability and plans to maintain and operate the 25 divestiture sites,” says Mr Ridgeway.
As part of the proposed acquisition, Viva Energy will acquire 184 OTR retail fuel sites: 153 sites in SA (115 of which are in Adelaide), 15 sites in the NT, eight sites in Western Australia, 11 sites in Victoria and two sites in NSW.
