Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / ACCC Acting Chair Mick Keogh explains why it has backflipped on concerns about Endeavour Group acquiring the Beachfront Hotel in Rapid Creek

Transcript

ACCC Acting Chair Mick Keogh explains why it has backflipped on concerns about Endeavour Group acquiring the Beachfront Hotel in Rapid Creek · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We know that the A Triple C has well backflipped
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: on its concerns about Endeavor Group acquiring the Beachfront Hotel
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: in Rapid Creek, which currently operates under the Celebrations banner. Now,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: after conducting consultation, it has found that there'd be no
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: adverse impacts when it comes to competition independent operators and
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: the like and the supply of takeaway grog. Now joining
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  Speaker 1: me on the line to explain the decision further is
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  Speaker 1: Mick Keo, who is the A Triple C Acting chair.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Meck, good morning. Now tell me
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  Speaker 1: what were the A Triple C's initial concerns.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: Well, we had two concerns. One is in relation to
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: the local market for takeaway alcohol. The outlet, the Celebrations
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: outlet associated with the Beachfront Hotel is a very big
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: outlet and we were concerned that Endeavor, who were purchasing it,
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: also owns several other outlets in the area and therefore
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: that might lead to a reduction in competition. The second
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: issue that was of concerns in relation to the wholesale
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  Speaker 2: market and whether the removal of Endeavor Beachfront, sorry, the
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: removal of Beachfront from the existing wholesale which is a
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: met cash operation, whether that would adversely affect the overall
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  Speaker 2: wholesale market in Darwin. So they were both considerations that
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: we had to look into.
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  Speaker 1: And so what consultation or investigation then was done to
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  Speaker 1: make you change your mind.
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  Speaker 2: We heard from quite a few consumers and participants around Darwin.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: We also had staff visit the outlets and we got
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: a fairly detailed data regarding their sales as well, so
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  Speaker 2: that putting all those together gave us a much better
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  Speaker 2: picture of what the market looks like in Darwin more generally,
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  Speaker 2: but also specifically in the suburbs around Beach Front, and
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: that sort of reassured us that there was a reasonable
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: amount of competition there and this wouldn't dramatically change that
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: level of competition.
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  Speaker 1: So even though I suppose, as you've touched on, they
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: do have a number of other outlets, you don't feel
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  Speaker 1: as though it's going to have a big impact on competition.
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  Speaker 2: Within the five kilometer zone that we typically focus on.
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  Speaker 2: There was two other quite large takeaway alcohol outlets. There's
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  Speaker 2: also four or five other smaller ones. When it comes
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: to drinking in the pub itself, there's two or three others,
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: including sports clubs and others that will also provide competition.
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  Speaker 2: So although Endeavor does have several other outlets not too
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  Speaker 2: far away, we still felt with enough competition there that
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  Speaker 2: it won't be harmed by this particular transaction.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: So do you foreesee that there will be sort of
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  Speaker 1: any flow on effects of independent operators stemming from the change.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: No, There's still a large number of independent operators in Darwin,
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  Speaker 2: and some of them are aligned to different liquor outlets,
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  Speaker 2: so they're different branded in different ways. But certainly the
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  Speaker 2: evidence we have is there's enough of them. There are
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: some unique issues in the territory due to a couple
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: of laws. One is the law that limits the amount
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  Speaker 2: of proceeds that a grocery retailer, for example, can pick
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: up from alcohol, and the other is the minimum pricing
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: requirements of the types of alcohol. So we had to
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: have a look at those as well. But again we
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  Speaker 2: came to the conclusion that in this particular situation, even
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  Speaker 2: though it is a pretty significant outlet, there is still
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  Speaker 2: good competition in the area and therefore we didn't oppose it.
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: What does the change mean for the beachfront venue itself?
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  Speaker 1: Or is it just going to affect the bottle shop.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: It shouldn't make well, it's up to the buyer whether
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: they want to, for example, revamp or upgrade the Beachfront itself.
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  Speaker 2: In terms of the bottle shop, it will probably be rebranded,
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  Speaker 2: but basically it would continue on as it has in
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  Speaker 2: the past, from what the new owners told us.
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  Speaker 1: And so obviously the Ahrible C is not opposing now
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  Speaker 1: and DEVA group proposed their acquisition of the Beachfront hotel,
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  Speaker 1: do you have any idea where and exactly that's now
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: going to take place.
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  Speaker 2: No, that's up to the vendor and the purchaser become
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: to their own commercial arrangements. It was a condition on
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: the transaction that we gave approval, so that step has
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: now occurred and it's really up to the participants in
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: the deal to work out what happens next.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: Well, Acting Chair of the A Triple C, Mick Keo,
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  Speaker 1: we really appreciate you having a quick chat with us
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  Speaker 1: this morning. Thanks so much for your time.
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: No problems at all. Thank you.