GATINEAU – The Competition Bureau announced that it has entered into a consent agreement with Béton Provincial to address competition concerns from its acquisition of the Québec-based concrete operations of CRH Canada Group Inc. (CRH).
The Bureau’s review concluded that the proposed transaction would likely result in a substantial lessening of competition for the supply of ready-mix concrete (RMC) in the Laurentides. This would come as a result of the loss of rivalry between CRH’s RMC plant in Mont-Tremblant and Béton Provincial’s RMC plants in Piedmont and Saint-Jérôme. The Bureau concluded that there is an insufficient number of alternative suppliers and that barriers to entry for new competitors are high in this market.
The consent agreement requires Béton Provincial to sell CRH’s RMC plant in Mont-Tremblant, along with associated operating assets (i.e. mixer trucks), employees and customer contracts. The sale will be made to an independent purchaser to be approved by the Commissioner of Competition. The Bureau is satisfied that the sale will resolve the competition concerns arising from the proposed transaction. The consent agreement is available on the website of the Competition Tribunal.