The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will not oppose Cleanaway Waste Management Limited’s (ASX:CWY) proposed acquisition of Contract Resources Group Pty Ltd.
Cleanaway and Contract Resources both supply a range of industrial services in Australia, including maintenance and cleaning of industrial facilities and equipment. Cleanaway is also one of the largest waste management companies in Australia.
The ACCC’s review considered the likely effect of the proposed acquisition on competition for the provision of industrial services.
The review found Contract Resources primarily provides specialist industrial services, such as catalyst handling, which Cleanaway does not supply.
For other types of industrial services that both Cleanaway and Contract Resources supply, the ACCC’s review found the merged entity would continue to face competition from alternative suppliers and, in some cases, customers would be able to effectively sponsor the entry of a new supplier.
“Cleanaway and Contract Resources compete mainly for customers in the oil and gas sector. These customers are generally large, well-resourced organisations that could sponsor new entry or sponsor the expansion of existing rival suppliers,” ACCC Commissioner Dr Philip Williams said.
“We have seen oil and gas companies sponsor new entry before.”
The ACCC’s review also considered the likely effect of the acquisition on competition in the supply of waste management services.
The review focused on whether the merged entity would be able to profitably leverage Contract Resources’ strong position in the supply of specialist industrial services into Cleanaway’s waste management offering – for example, by requiring customers to acquire their waste management services as a condition of supplying specialist industrial services.
The ACCC found that this is unlikely to be a profitable strategy because customers have other options to source these specialist industrial services.
“Overall, we did not find that the proposed acquisition is likely to substantially lessen competition in the supply of industrial services or waste management services,” Williams said.
Cleanaway announced it had agreed to acquire 100 per cent of the shares of Contract Resources Group in March 2025.
At the time, Mark Schubert, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Cleanaway, said the acquisition was a strategic step in advancing Cleanaway’s Blueprint 2030 strategy.
“Contract Resources is a natural fit with Cleanaway, given its market leadership, deep sector expertise, and stable, recurring earnings stream,” Schubert said.
“Its long-standing relationships with tier one oil and gas customers and attractive growth outlook are strongly aligned with our strategic vision for industrial services at Cleanaway.
“For Contract Resources customers, it will be business as usual under Cleanaway’s ownership. For Cleanaway, it enhances our industrial services offering through the addition of production-critical, higher-margin, and technically complex services, strengthening our market position.”
Completion of the acquisition is expected by late 2025.
For more information, visit: www.accc.gov.au
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