The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will not oppose the proposed acquisition of certain assets of Lloyds International Pty Ltd including Capital Finance Australia Limited (CFAL) and BOS International (Australia) Limited (BOSI) (Lloyds) by Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac).
Westpac (through its subsidiary St. George) and Lloyds (through CFAL) compete in the supply of floor-plan financing to motor vehicle dealerships, point-of-sale retail finance to customers of motor vehicle dealerships and equipment finance to a range of businesses.
“The ACCC conducted extensive market enquiries and concluded that the proposed acquisition by Westpac of Lloyds would be unlikely to result in a substantial lessening of competition in any relevant market,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said.
“One of the central issues to the ACCC’s investigation was determining the degree of competition provided by manufacturer-aligned motor vehicle financiers, such as Toyota Financial Services and Nissan Financial Services, for non-aligned motor vehicle financiers, such as the merger parties, Esanda, and Macquarie Bank.”
“Manufacturer-aligned financiers tend to compete for the supply of floor-plan financing to motor vehicle dealerships which have some affiliation with the relevant manufacturer, such as where the dealership has a franchise for one of its brands.”
“There are a range of manufacturer-aligned financiers that provide strong competition for floor-plan financing and point-of-sale financing to dealerships that have such an affiliation, which presently may account for up to three quarters of motor vehicle dealerships in Australia,” Mr Sims said.
Non-aligned motor vehicle financiers, including the merger parties, Esanda (owned by ANZ), and more recently, Macquarie Bank, closely compete for motor vehicle dealerships that do not have any affiliation with a manufacturer-aligned financier.
Attempts by Macquarie to grow its market share has put pressure on non-aligned financiers to offer lower bailment rates to motor vehicle dealerships throughout Australia.
“The majority of motor vehicle dealerships in Australia will continue to have access to the competitive floor-plan finance offerings from a range of manufacturer-aligned financiers and non-aligned financiers. ANZ and Macquarie are likely to continue to constrain Westpac for the provision of floor-plan financing to dealerships, which do not currently have access to manufacturer aligned financiers,” Mr Sims said.
“In addition to Macquarie, a number of financiers and financial institutions were identified as appearing to be well placed to enter or expand to compete for the provision of floor-plan financing to motor vehicle dealerships, including those dealerships which do not currently have an affiliation with a manufacturer-aligned financier.”
In reaching this decision, the ACCC consulted widely with a range of interested parties, including motor vehicle dealerships, providers of floor-plan financing, point-of-sale finance and other financial institutions, finance brokers, motor vehicle manufacturers and various industry bodies.
Related public register records
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
