CCPC blocks daa purchase of car park near Dublin Airport
March 21, 2024
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has blocked the sale of a car park near Dublin Airport to daa due to concerns that the deal would lead to higher prices and lower service quality for consumers.
Daa had proposed to buy a car park located on the Swords Road in Santry from Mr Gerard Gannon. A QuickPark-branded car park had operated on the site before closing in September 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. Daa currently owns and operates all other large car parks serving Dublin Airport.
Details of the transaction are available at the following link: M/23/011 daa plc/Certain Assets of Mr Gerard Gannon
Brian McHugh, CCPC Chairperson, said:
“Competition among businesses is vital to drive value, consumer choice and innovation. Our investigation found that this deal would eliminate daa’s only significant competitor for public car parking serving Dublin Airport and result in daa essentially having a near monopoly. This would be likely to lead to higher prices for consumers because daa would not have to compete to win car parking customers.”
The CCPC’s investigation
The CCPC was notified of the proposed purchase in March 2023. The CCPC carried out a preliminary investigation and concluded that a full investigation was needed before making a final decision. During the investigation, the CCPC issued legal requests to the parties involved for further information and engaged with many third parties. The CCPC received 18 submissions from third parties, 16 of which raised concerns about the purchase.
In December 2023, the CCPC issued its preliminary findings to daa and the owner of the site, explaining its concerns about how the deal could reduce competition for public car parking spaces near Dublin Airport. The parties responded to the CCPC in January.
The CCPC’s investigation found that the deal would substantially lessen competition in car parking serving Dublin Airport, as daa would own over 90% of the public car parking spaces if the purchase went ahead. As daa would not face competition for customers from any other large car park providers, this would have harmful consequences for consumers.
The CCPC’s decision
The CCPC found that:
- If the purchase went ahead, daa would control over 90% of the car parking spaces serving Dublin Airport. Although there are six hotels which provide car parking to airport passengers, these car parks are very small in comparison, with five of the six having a share of approximately 1% each.
- The car park provides an important level of competition in the market for public car parking spaces near the airport. Without this competition, daa would be able to increase prices or reduce service quality for its car parks with limited consequences.
- In the past, daa responded to competition from QuickPark to win business – for example, through discounts and other promotional campaigns. If daa purchased the car park, this competition would be lost and daa would not face the same pressure to attract potential customers by improving its prices or service quality.
- The car park was, and remains, an attractive and viable business opportunity for alternative purchasers.
- Permitting daa to purchase the car park would have been likely to result in consumers facing increased prices or reduced service quality.
The CCPC therefore concluded that the proposed purchase by daa would substantially lessen competition and blocked the deal.
The CCPC will publish the full 300-page decision, with confidential information redacted, on its website within 60 working days.
