Brattle Client Superior Plus Cleared in Acquisition of Canwest Based on Efficiencies

Brattle’s client Superior Plus recently received clearance from Canada’s Competition Bureau to acquire Gibson Energy’s propane distribution business, Canwest, making the post-merger business the largest propane distributor in Canada.

Blake Cassels & Graydon, counsel for Superior Plus, retained Brattle to perform the competitive effects analysis, the efficiencies analysis under section 96, and the order-specific trade-off analysis in connection with the proposed transaction. The Brattle team was led by principals Renée Duplantis and Andy Harington, and included Ian Cass, Dimitri Dimitropoulos and David Liu.

The Bureau concluded that “the merger would likely lessen competition substantially in 22 of the 25 relevant geographic markets” for the distribution of retail bulk propane, but that the efficiency gains in 10 of the 22 local markets “were likely to clearly and significantly outweigh the likely anticompetitive effects.” This is the third acquisition in recent years where the Competition Bureau has explicitly stated they considered efficiencies when analyzing the transaction. Brattle has been involved in two of those three transactions.