Peter Warren conditionally clears ACCC acquisition review

• The ACCC approved Peter Warren's acquisition of Wakeling Automotive's dealership sites subject to divesting eight local car dealerships.
• The regulatory conditional clearance secures market approvals for the Sydney Macarthur expansion.
• Peter Warren offered the divestments to resolve competition concerns in new car supply, servicing, and repairs.

Peter Warren Automotive Holdings (ASX:PWR) secured conditional approval from the ACCC to acquire Wakeling Automotive Group's new car dealerships.

The competition watchdog found that acquiring all sites would have allowed Peter Warren to operate 25 out of 34 local dealerships.

“Without the conditions, the acquisition would have resulted in Peter Warren operating 25 out of 34 new car dealerships in the region,” said ACCC Commissioner Dr Philip Williams.

The eight sites to be divested are located in Campbelltown and Smeaton Grange across brands including Kia, Isuzu UTE, and Volkswagen.

Following the announcement, the Peter Warren Automotive Holdings share price was down at $0.78.

The approval follows a multi-month review process where Phase 2 proceedings ceased after Peter Warren submitted a formal remedy offer on July 13.

The business operates over 80 automotive dealership sites across 25 locations along the east coast of Australia.