The Australian Competition and Consumer Commision (ACCC) has announced that it will not oppose the proposed acquisition of the global battery portable lighting business of Spectrum Brands Holdings Inc (Spectrum) by Energizer Holdings Inc (Energizer).
Both are global companies that supply batteries and lighting devices.
ACCC Commissioner Roger Featherston said: “The ACCC considers that the proposed acquisition would be likely to lessen competition in the market in Australia for consumer batteries, but not substantially”.
“This means that the proposed acquisition would not breach section 50 of the Competition and Consumer Act,” Mr Featherston said.
The ACCC investigation focussed on Spectrum and it’s small percent of the market share- less than 5% in Australia.
“Despite its strong brand recognition in Europe, Spectrum’s limited brand recognition in Australia and its limited market share mean Spectrum is unlikely to be a strong constraint on Energizer and Duracell in the medium-term. We also believe there are other brands and private label products that could fill a similar competitive niche in the market to Spectrum,” Mr Featherston said.
“Energizer also faces strong competition in consumer batteries from Duracell, which is the other player in the market with a significant market share and strong brand recognition.”
“In a separate market for the sale of hearing aid batteries, we found that Energizer and Spectrum do not generally compete for the same customers in Australia. A combined Energizer-Spectrum would also be constrained by several other branded and private label suppliers.”