Kegstar has applied for clearance from New Zealand’s Commerce Commission to acquire the keg rental assets of Konvoy, while the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) conducts a similar review in Australia.
Earlier this month the ACCC requested further information from both parties and announced it was extending its provisional date for when it would detail its findings. The ACCC’s new provisional announcement date is Thursday, 14 August.
Konvoy went into receivership earlier this year, with the Receivers launching a formal sale and/or recapitalisation process for Konvoy Kegs. The ACCC said Kegstar owners MicroStar is engaged in the receivers’ formal sale process.
New Zealand’s Commerce Commission announced on Tuesday that it had received a clearance application from Kegstar NZ to acquire kegs, beacons attached to those kegs or held in inventory, and New Zealand keg records, from Konvoy.
The Commission is assessing whether the acquisition would substantially lessen competition in any market in New Zealand. Key considerations include the extent to which the transaction would reduce competitive pressure and how easily other players could enter or expand in the market to counterbalance the merger. ACCC’s informal review process in Australia is evaluating similar concerns.
The NZ Commission said: “We will only give clearance to a proposed merger if we are satisfied that the merger is unlikely to have the effect of substantially lessening competition in a market.”
Market participants and interested parties have been invited by both regulators to submit comments during the respective review processes. The proposed deal could reshape the dynamics of the keg pooling industry in Australasia, with implications for pricing, service innovation, and supply chain reliability for breweries across both countries.