ACCC Okays Cleanaway to Takeover Contract Resources Group

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has cleared a proposal of Cleanaway Waste Management Limited’s to acquire Contract Resources Group Pty Ltd in Australia.

The deal is reportedly valued around $245 million and the acquisition is expected to complete latest by 31 July 2025.

Cleanaway and Contract Resources both supply a range of industrial services in Australia, including maintenance and cleaning of industrial facilities and equipment. Cleanaway is also one of the largest waste management companies in Australia.

The ACCC’s review considered the likely effect of the proposed acquisition on competition for the provision of industrial services. It also found Contract Resources primarily provides specialist industrial services, such as catalyst handling, which Cleanaway does not supply.

For other types of industrial services that both Cleanaway and Contract Resources supply, the ACCC’s review found the merged entity would continue to face competition from alternative suppliers and, in some cases, customers would be able to effectively sponsor the entry of a new supplier.

ACCC Commissioner Dr Philip Williams said that Cleanaway and Contract Resources compete mainly for customers in the oil and gas sector. These customers are generally large, well-resourced organisations that could sponsor new entry or sponsor the expansion of existing rival suppliers.

The ACCC’s review also considered the likely effect of the acquisition on competition in the supply of waste management services.

The review focused on whether the merged entity would be able to profitably leverage Contract Resources’ strong position in the supply of specialist industrial services into Cleanaway’s waste management offering such as requiring customers to acquire their waste management services as a condition of supplying specialist industrial services.

The ACCC found that this is unlikely to be a profitable strategy because customers have other options to source these specialist industrial services.

“We have seen oil and gas companies sponsor new entry before. Overall, we did not find that the proposed acquisition is likely to substantially lessen competition in the supply of industrial services or waste management services,” Dr Williams said.

Strategic Acquisition

Cleanaway CEO and Managing Director Mark Schubert said that this was a highly strategic acquisition that when combined with their Industrial Services (IS) business, it creates a leading provider of integrated, specialised technical services to customers in the oil & gas, resources and industrial sectors.

He said: “I’m excited about the growth Contract Resources will bring to Cleanaway through the acceleration of our strategy to capture the decommissioning, decontamination, and remediation (DD&R) opportunity.”

“With its market-leading reputation, technical capabilities, and Tier 1 oil & gas customer base, Contract Resources enhances our value proposition and positions us to secure a greater share of DD&R projects and the complex, hazardous waste streams they generate,” Schubert added.

Background

Cleanaway proposes to acquire 100% of the shares in Contract Resources Group Pty Ltd, whose majority shareholders are two private equity firms, SCF Partners Inc and Viburnum Funds Pty Ltd.

Industrial services involve the provision of maintenance and cleaning services to industrial facilities, plants, and equipment, with many customers for these services operating in the mining, infrastructure, and oil and gas sectors.