• ACCC outlines preliminary competition concerns with proposed acquisition
• DP World Australia is a major container stevedore, Silk is a national container logistics provider
• Acquisition could reduce competition in container transport services, leading to higher prices and reduced quality

The ACCC has outlined preliminary competition concerns with DP World Australia's proposed acquisition of Silk Logistics (ASX:SLH) in a Statement of Issues published today. DP World Australia operates container stevedores at the Ports of Botany (Sydney), Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle, servicing approximately a third of the containers processed at these ports. Silk is one of the only national door-to-door container logistic providers in Australia, hauling import and export containers using trucks to and from the ports that DP World Australia is operational at. The ACCC is concerned that the proposed acquisition would result in DP World Australia, a major container stevedore, owning a national container transport provider. This could lead to DP World Australia increasing terminal fees or worsening the quality of terminal services for container transport providers that compete with Silk. The ACCC is also assessing whether DP World Australia could offer below-cost transportation prices to importers and exporters if their containers are also picked up and dropped off at DP World Australia's stevedoring terminals, which could reduce container transport competition and allow them to raise prices later. Additionally, the ACCC is concerned that DP World Australia could access and use commercially sensitive data about Silk's rivals in a way that damages competition.