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Acquisition of 98 stations from Suncor will preserve competition in market Dec. 21, 2009
OTTAWA, Ontario -- The federal Competition Bureau in Canada has announced that Husky Energy Inc. has been approved as the acquirer of 98 retail gas stations in southern Ontario, as part of the remedy resolving the bureau's concerns associated with the merger of Suncor and Petro-Canada.
(Click here for [image-nocss] previous CSP Daily News coverage of the Husky deal. Andclick here for coverage of the Suncor/Petro-Canada merger.)
Husky will acquire the stations under the terms of a consent agreement between the Competition Bureau and Suncor and Petro-Canada signed in July 2009.
The bureau required Suncor to divest 104 retail gas stations located in the southern Ontario markets in which the Bureau had concluded that the merger would have substantially lessened competition. Of the other six stations, arrangements are in place for two, and the sale process for the remaining four is ongoing.
"We believe that Husky's expanded market presence is a positive development," said Melanie Aitken, Commissioner of Competition. "This sale will preserve competition for retail gasoline in southern Ontario markets."
In addition to the obligations to sell 104 gas stations, the consent agreement required Suncor to supply 1.1 billion liters of terminal and distribution capacity for refined petroleum products in the Greater Toronto Area for a period of 10 years. The Competition Bureau approved Ultramar Ltd. as the acquirer of the terminal storage and distribution capacity in August 2009. (Click here for previous coverage.)
The Competition Bureau is an independent law enforcement agency that contributes to the prosperity of Canadians by protecting and promoting competitive markets and enabling informed consumer choice.