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ACCC Delays Decision On Caltex Purchase Of Mobil Stations

SYDNEY -(Dow Jones)- The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Tuesday pushed back its date to rule on Caltex Ltd.'s (CTX.AU) proposed acquisition of 302 ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) stations in Australia until Dec. 2.

The agency was expected to rule Wednesday but changed the date to give the ACCC more time to review additional information that Caltex wanted to provide.

At the start of October, the agency pushed back its deadline to make a decision on this deal by more than a month after the agency raised serious concerns about the planned A$300 million acquisition's effects on competition.

In what it called its preliminary view, the regulator said previously that the proposed transaction would likely "substantially lessen competition" in wholesale fuel markets in New South Wales and Queensland states and may lessen wholesale competition in Victoria and South Australia states.

-By Cynthia Koons, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-8272-4691; cynthia.koons@ dowjones.com

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