The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission concluded that the acquisition of the Tamar Valley Power Station project by Aurora Energy is unlikely to substantially lessen competition under section 50 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 in the markets in which they compete, ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today.
"This conclusion was reached after conducting a comprehensive review of the acquisition, including market inquiries with a broad range of industry participants,"
Mr Samuel added.
The ACCC initially considered that there were potential competition concerns that could arise from the common ownership of Aurora Energy and Hydro Tasmania – that is, all the electricity generators in Tasmania would be owned by the Tasmanian Government. In order to ensure it had an opportunity to explore whether these concerns were practically likely to ensue, the ACCC accepted an undertaking from the Tasmanian Government to hold the assets separate while the ACCC conducted comprehensive market inquiries.
After considering further information relating to the nature and extent of the hedge contract in place between the owner of the power station and Aurora Energy as well as the likely state of competition that would have occurred 'without' the transaction, the ACCC has concluded that there is no likelihood of a substantial lessening of competition arising in the relevant markets.
The ACCC explored in its inquiries what the likely state of competition would be in the absence of the acquisition, and in particular whether there was a real chance of a privately owned party purchasing the half-built power station. The ACCC did not find any compelling evidence to suggest that this would be likely. The ACCC considered the acquisition having regard to the fact that, without the acquisition, the construction and commissioning of the power station would be delayed or, at worst, terminated.
For media inquiries to the ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, please call Ms Lin Enright, ACCC Media, on (02) 6243 1108 or 0414 613 520. For general inquiries, please call the Infocentre: 1300 302 502.
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