SYDNEY, Australia -- The Australian Consumer & Competition Commission (ACCC) has revealed that at least one other company entered final-stage negotiations to buy Brambles Industries Ltd's forklift rental arm before pulling out.
Nacco Materials Handling Group (NMHG) last month announced the purchase of the Brambles fleet.
The ACCC is the Australian Government's competition regulator, and must approve corporate buyouts if there is potential for a market monopoly.
ACCC mergers commissioner Ross Jones said the regulator had given "all but the final approval" to the company, which he would not name, to go ahead with the purchase of the Brambles fleet, in March this year.
Because it was a confidential application, the ACCC was prevented from gauging market reaction to the purchase and its implications.
The ACCC gave in-principle approval, but stipulated final approval would have to wait until after a public announcement to allow comment on the proposal.
However the public announcement did not come. The company that applied took no further action, Mr Jones said. It is not known whether the application had been a "test the water" move from Nacco. The company did not respond to questions from forkliftaction.com.
Brambles spokesman Robin Mitchell denied knowledge of any negotiations, and would not comment on other companies that may have expressed interest in the business.
NMHG bought Brambles' 5000-unit rental fleet, the largest in Australia, to combine with its 3000 machines. The purchase has been approved by the ACCC.
Brambles chief executive officer John Fletcher said the sale, foreshadowed at the company's November 10 annual general meeting, would generate close to A$84 million and result in a "modest after-tax loss".
Mr Fletcher also said a sale of the European forklift rentals business was being considered. The company's annual report said European trends were "similar to the Australian experience... Because of this, the company is attempting to divest its forklift activities".
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