Brussels, 11/08/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission authorised the merger of the tank container fleets of Brambles Industries Ltd (Australia) and of Ermewa S.A. (Switzerland). The joint venture resulting from the operation will rival with Transamerica Leasing for world market leadership, but the two companies will remain confronted by competition from a large number of powerful yet smaller operators.
Brambles Industries Ltd has as main activity the rental to industry of specialised equipment, specialised transportation of raw materials and dangerous goods, as well as in other industrial services. Ermewa provides rental services of wagons, forwarding operations and maritime transport. Each of the two companies owns a fleet of tank containers used for the transportation and storage of bulk liquids, liquefied gases and powders. The joint venture will pool both fleets at an international level and thus will manage around 20,000 tanks.
The Commission noted that the operation did not raise any competition concerns, given that the sector is characterised by the presence of numerous competitors. Furthermore, the relatively limited importance of barriers to market entry (consisting of various international and national safety compliance regulations) as well as the strong buying power of customers, also led the Commission to conclude in favour of authorising the joint venture.