Spotless merger called off

South Pacific Laundry Perth will no longer proceed with its contested acquisition of Spotless Laundries.

That follows the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission raising concerns with the merger in August, arguing the geographic and service overlap of the two could lead to a significant reduction in competition in Australia’s laundering market.

Both companies offer a host of laundry services across several jurisdictions in Australia, including Western Australia.

The ACCC this morning confirmed SPL had withdrawn its request for a merger clearance.

Alsco, which had also made a bid for Spotless Laundries, withdrew interest in an acquisition in October following the ACCC raising similar concerns with a possible decrease in competition.

Spotless Laundries will for now remain a subsidiary of Spotless Group, which is itself majority owned by ASX-listed conglomerate Downer EDI.

Shares in Downer were trading $0.09 down on opening at 12:30 AEDT, from $4.62 to $4.53.