Australia: Competition and Consumer Commission will not oppose Lion Nathan’s bid for Coopers

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) stated it will not oppose Lion Nathan's 420 mln aud bid for privately held Coopers Brewery,AFX announced on December 5.

The ACCC announced that the evidence suggests that the removal of Coopers as an independent beer wholesaler would unlikely raise substantial competition concerns.

Whilst the ACCC recognised that Coppers' market share is increasing, including outside of South Australia, its market share remains small, and substantially smaller than the two major beer producers in Australia, Carlton United Breweries and Lion Nathan,' ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said.

Mr.Rob Murray, Lion Nathan chief executive previously said the takeover bid is now only subject to conditions which are regulatory, with the offer of 310 aud per share substantially above all past pricing benchmarks for Coopers shares.

Following the ACCC's ruling, Murray welcomed the regulator's decision and removed further conditions from its offer, calling on the Coopers board to accept the offer.

'The Coopers board is on record stating that its key concerns were ACCC approval and the condition relating to the Coopers buy-back. Now these concerns no longer apply, we can see no reasonable basis for rejecting the offer,' Rob Murray stated.

1 USD = 1.34 AUD

07 December, 2005