THE Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will not oppose Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s deal to sell the Melbourne International RoRo & Auto Terminal to Australian logistics company Qube Logistics.

Norway-based Wallenius Wilhelmsen announced it had sold the terminal to Qube in May 2024 for AUD332.5m ($205.2m).

Chief executive Lasse Kristoffersen said the terminal “can be even better developed under a new and independent ownership” when announcing the deal last year.

“We will continue to be a happy customer of Mirrat and work with the strong team there,” he said.

But the deal was subject to an ACCC investigation, which raised concerns surrounding Qube’s ownership of other major automotive terminals on Australia’s east coast.

Qube, through its subsidiary Australian Amalgamated Terminals, operates automotive cargo terminals at the port of Brisbane and Port Kembla, as well as a general cargo terminal at Appleton Dock at the port of Melbourne.

ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said the commission concluded that “in the absence of adequate safeguards, Qube, through its ownership of Mirrat, would likely have the ability and incentive to discriminate against rival stevedores and PDI providers at Webb Dock West”.

“Mirrat could do this, for example, by restricting its downstream rivals’ access to the terminal or related services, raising prices or lowering the quality of terminal services provided to them.”

Cass-Gottlieb said the ACCC only decided not to oppose the deal after obtaining court-enforceable agreements from Qube not to discriminate between terminal users in favour of its own interests in the automotive supply chain, provide for certain price and non-price dispute resolution processes and report periodically on its compliance with the undertaking and facilitate independent oversight, including by an independent auditor.

“Most users of the terminal and participants in the vehicle import supply chain were supportive of Qube acquiring Mirrat,” Cass-Gottlieb said.