Coles Group’s supermarket subsidiary has secured approval from the competition regulator to acquire leasehold interests for the establishment of two new supermarkets in Victoria.
The two supermarkets will be located at Mt Atkinson Major Town Centre and Deanside Central Town Centre.
In exchange for the approval, the company has agreed to divest its ownership and interest in a site at the nearby Kororoit Town Centre.
According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the proposed acquisitions combined with Coles’ interest in the Kororoit site would have limited consumers’ choice in the area.
Mt Atkinson, Deanside and Kororoit are close to each other in the Melton Growth Corridor, northwest of Melbourne. The ACCC had concerns that the deals would substantially lessen competition in the retail supply of groceries and household products within the local markets.
As part of the undertaking, Coles will sell the Kororoit site to Neale Deanside Developments, trading as Oreana, so that it will be available for a competitor to enter.
“The divestiture ensures that the Kororoit site is available to a rival supermarket operator,” said ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh.
“It’s important that residents of these new suburbs don’t suffer from a lack of supermarket competition, as we observed for many established suburbs around Australia in the ACCC’s recent Supermarkets Inquiry.”
Coles currently operates more than 800 supermarkets nationwide. These include large-format stores with standard grocery items and full-service bakery and deli service, as well as smaller-format ones with a more limited range of grocery items.
