US-based information management services provider, Iron Mountain, has agreed to sell most of its Australian business in order to resolve the ACCC’s concerns in its $US3.5 billion acquisition of ASX-listed company, Recall (ASX:REC).
Iron Mountain will keep its local records management customers in the Northern Territory and its data protection business – Retained Australian Business.
ACCC chairman, Rod Sims, said it had significant concerns that the proposed acquisition, in the absence of the undertaking, would substantially lessen competition for physical document management services.
“Recall is currently Iron Mountain’s closest competitor for physical document storage. By combining these two companies, the proposed acquisition could have left customers vulnerable to price increases or reduced service levels in a market where there are high costs to switch providers,” Sims said.
The acquisition is set to close on May 2 and Iron Mountain will transfer its Retained Australian Business to its combined Australian company.
Iron Mountain first announced its intentions to acquire Recall in April last year.
