ACCC blocks Transurban from buying Melbourne’s EastLink
Transurban has been blocked for the first time ever by regulators from acquiring a toll road in Australia, with the competition watchdog ruling that it cannot proceed with a bid for Melbourne’s EastLink tollroad.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said on Thursday that if Transurban was to proceed with a bid for EastLink, and win, it would “substantially lessen competition for future toll road concessions in Victoria.”
“The proposed acquisition would result in Transurban entrenching its position in Victoria, and prevent the entry of a rival operator which could compete closely for future toll road concessions in Victoria. Transurban would operate every single private-sector controlled toll road in Australia,” ACCC chairman Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.
“We have concluded that if Transurban doesn’t acquire Horizon Roads, it would likely be acquired by a potential long-term rival and could be used as a platform to develop the capabilities needed to compete more strongly for other toll road concessions,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.
Outgoing Transurban chief executive Scott Charlton, who will join Sydney Airport in December as its new boss, said in August that he was confident the company had addressed the ACCC’s concerns.
Transurban has been keen to take a majority stake in EastLink, a 39-kilometre freeway in south-east Melbourne, to expand its portfolio of toll road assets.
It already owns Melbourne’s other existing toll road, CityLink, and will also operate a new toll road, the West Gate Tunnel, when it opens in 2024.
EastLink owner ConnectEast, which is controlled by a consortium of pension funds, holds a concession from the Victorian government to operate the toll road until November 2043.
Regulators to
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