The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will not oppose Wesfarmers acquisition of the online retailer Catch Group for $230 Million.

"We reviewed whether Wesfarmers' retail position could be leveraged into online sales and marketplaces in an anti-competitive way," said ACCC Commissioner Stephen Ridgeway.  "The current growth in online marketplaces is fostering competition between providers, and feedback indicated that Wesfarmers' proposed acquisition of Catch would be unlikely to change that level of competition."

Now that the ACCC is a-okay with the takeover, officials say the Catch Group will operate as an independent business unit under the oversight of Wesfarmers' Kmart Group, whose Managing Director Ian Bailey is impressed with Catch's first-party and fast-growing marketplace business underpinned by a leading technology platform and data capabilities.

"We are excited to work with the Catch team and look forward to leveraging our capabilities to grow the business and accelerate the customer-driven, omni-channel initiatives across Kmart and Target," Ian Bailey said.  "This will further drive best practice in supply chain, fulfillment and online execution across our brands, including opportunities for Target to secure online fulfillment capacity and productivity benefits.  Catch will also benefit from the support of Kmart Group's scale and capabilities to drive its continued growth in its existing marketplace business."