The company watchdog has raised issues concerning the proposed buy of a Darwin beachfront pub and bottle store by the proprietor of liquor retail chains Dan Murphy’s and BWS.
Woolworths spin-off Endeavour Group already operates 4 BWS shops inside 5km of the Beachfront Hotel in Rapid Creek, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says.
“We are concerned that this proposed acquisition is likely to substantially lessen competition in the supply of takeaway liquor in the local area,” ACCC commissioner Liza Carver mentioned on Monday.
Endeavour’s current BWS Nightcliff retailer is 2.4km from the lodge’s impartial bottle store, which operates below the Cellarbrations model.
“It is important that local consumers in the Rapid Creek area benefit from competition between large liquor stores with different promotions, range and service offerings,” Ms Carver mentioned.
The ACCC can be investigating if the proposed buy will have an effect on different impartial liquor shops in Darwin.
Endeavour Group is a significant alcohol retailer and lodge operator that manages over 330 licensed resorts throughout Australia by way of its subsidiary ALH Hotels.
The firm’s portfolio additionally consists of Jimmy Brings, Shorty’s Liquor and Langton’s.
It operates Darwin’s Airport Tavern, which is about 4km from the Beachfront Hotel.
In an announcement, the corporate mentioned it might proceed to work constructively with the ACCC in its evaluation.
“The Beachfront Hotel is a well-established, premium venue, popular with families, locals and tourists,” a spokesman mentioned.
“If the ACCC were to approve the transaction, we would look forward to working with the existing team and community to build on the pub’s popularity while maintaining the qualities that make it so well-loved today.”
Endeavour was break up from the Woolworths Group in 2021.
In the months earlier than, the retail large scrapped plans for a Dan Murphy’s megastore about 3km from the Beachfront Hotel after well being and neighborhood teams raised issues about its shut proximity to an Aboriginal neighborhood.
