Advisory to Government Agency on Proposed Merger under Funding Agreement

CCCS was approached by a government agency for advice on whether there were competition concerns relating to a proposed merger that was subject to its approval under a funding agreement. 

While CCCS noted that the proposed merger was unlikely to give rise to competition concerns on a national level considering the merged entity’s market shares and the post-merger combined markets shares of the three largest players, CCCS assessed that the relevant geographic markets were unlikely to be Singapore-wide given the likely preferences of customers and the planning of such services in Singapore. CCCS accordingly undertook a detailed assessment on a narrower geographic basis (i.e., for different planning areas in Singapore where the merger parties overlap). Considering the size and location of competing players, CCCS assessed that, amongst other factors, competing players would likely provide sufficient competition to the merged entity within the respective planning areas post-merger. CCCS also noted that regulatory oversight over the industry may also limit to some extent the scope for the merged entity to exploit any market power. Hence, CCCS advised the agency that the proposed merger was unlikely to raise competition concerns.