Street Talk

Cleanaway’s Citywide acquisition may face ACCC clearance issues

Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

Jun 24, 2024 – 12.32pm

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Cleanaway’s acquisition of Citywide’s waste business has similarities with Veolia Environnement’s purchase of rival Suez in 2021, and may come a cropper with the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.

That’s the view of analysts and investors Street Talk spoke to on Monday after the City of Melbourne confirmed this column’s report on Sunday that the ASX-listed waste management giant had agreed terms to acquire Citywide Waste.

Sarah Thompson has co-edited Street Talk since 2009, specialising in private equity, investment banking, M&A and equity capital markets stories. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in London as a markets and M&A reporter at Bloomberg and Dow Jones. Email Sarah at sarah.thompson@afr.com

Kanika Sood is a journalist based in Sydney who writes for the Street Talk column. Email Kanika at kanika.sood@afr.com.au

Emma Rapaport is a co-editor of the Street Talk column. Prior to that, she was a markets reporter at The Australian Financial Review. Connect with Emma on Twitter. Email Emma at emma.rapaport@afr.com