Brattle Provides Economic Analysis in ACCC MicroStar–Konvoy Merger Review

A Brattle team, led by Principal Dr. Luke Wainscoat, provided economic analysis to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in its review of MicroStar Logistics LLC’s proposed acquisition of Konvoy Holdings Pty Ltd’s assets. On August 7, 2026, the ACCC determined that the acquisition must not proceed, concluding that it would be likely to substantially lessen competition in the supply of keg pooling services in Australia.

MicroStar, which operates as Kegstar in Australia, and Konvoy are the two providers of keg pooling services in Australia, enabling customers – including brewers – to rent kegs to supply beverages on tap to licensed venues. The proposed acquisition would have resulted in Kegstar becoming the sole provider of keg pooling services in Australia.

The ACCC retained Brattle in May 2026, and Dr. Wainscoat – supported by a team that included Senior Associate Senthuran Rudran – prepared expert reports addressing several key issues in the proposed merger. In its Statement of Reasons explaining why the acquisition must not proceed, the ACCC referenced Dr. Wainscoat’s analysis of issues including whether the Australian market could sustain more than one keg pooling provider, the closeness of competition between Kegstar and Konvoy, and the extent to which self-supply could constrain Kegstar. Among other things, Dr. Wainscoat questioned whether Konvoy’s historical losses demonstrated that the market could support only one provider, noting that those losses could reflect factors unrelated to structural market limitations.

Dr. Wainscoat also cautioned against drawing conclusions about the substitutability of keg solutions based on existing usage patterns alone. The ACCC ultimately found that the proposed acquisition would remove Konvoy as Kegstar’s only direct competitor and that neither self-supply nor timely new entry would sufficiently replace that competitive constraint.