A Statement of Issues released by the ACCC pointed to the strength of Perpetual’s existing position in relation to trustee services for debt market products, and “the risk that the proposed acquisition would entrench its position”.
The ACCC has invited submissions on the Statement of Issues by 15 August, and has delayed its final decision date on the merger until 19 September.
“The ACCC’s preliminary view is that the proposed acquisition may raise competition concerns in relation to certain corporate trust services,” said ACCC chairman Rod Sims.
The corporate watchdog is also seeking further information about possible concerns in relation to custodial services.
“Perpetual and The Trust Company are both strong providers of particular types of custody services, while the feedback about the ability of other parties to constrain the merged entity has been mixed,” said Mr Sims.
But Mr Sims conceded there were also a “number of factors that impose some degree of competitive constraint on Perpetual”, including competition from existing trust corporations and the ability of some customers to provide trust services in house.
“The nature of this industry means that verifiable market share figures are not available, and the ACCC has to date received conflicting information about the relative strengths of the competitors and other potential competitive constraints,” said Mr Sims.
“The ACCC therefore invites comments from customers, competitors and others about the proposed transaction and the ACCC’s preliminary views,” he said.
The Statement of Issues is available here.
