The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (“CCS”) announced in a statement on Friday (Jan. 2) it is seeking public feedback on the proposed acquisition of Strides YTL Pte. Ltd. (“ChargEco”) by SP Mobility Pte. Ltd. (“SPM”.)
The statement also said CCS accepted a joint application from the concerned parties on Dec. 22 last year for a decision on whether the proposed acquisition would be anti-competitive.
CCS stated it is inviting the public feedback to seek their views on the following:
“How individual drivers choose where to charge their EVs, and whether these locations are spread across Singapore or limited to a few places within a specific region in Singapore;”
“Whether public and private EV charging points are suitable alternatives to each other based on factors such as pricing, reliability, convenience and charging speeds;”
“Whether public EV charging points located at HDB carparks and nonHDB carparks are suitable alternatives to each other based on factors such as pricing, reliability, convenience and charging speeds; and”
“The impact of the Proposed Transaction on the availability (i.e. whether EV charging options would be significantly reduced), pricing, quality or quantity of public and private EV charging points offered by different CPOs.”
SPM is part of the utilities provider SP Group, a 100% owned company by Temasek Holdings, the investment arm and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Singapore government.
The company is a charging point operator (“CPO”) which owns and operates its own electric vehicle (EV) network called “Singapore Charging System Management System (CSMS)” across Singapore in residential and commercial locations. It also provides services relating to installation, operation and maintenance of EV charging points.
ChargEco is a joint venture of SMRT subsidiary Strides Mobility and YTL PowerSeraya, a wholly-owned company of YTL Power International Berhad listed on the Malaysian stock exchange.
ChargEco is a CPO which owns and operates an EV charging network in Singapore. The company also provides services relating to the supply of EV charging points and employs a third-party CSMS provider for the operation and management of its EV charging network.
The concerned parties said they compete in the Singapore market for the supply of public and private EV charging points.
The supply of public EV charging points includes EV charging points at Housing Development Board (“HDB”) carparks and public carparks in shopping malls or other commercial buildings.
The supply of private EV charging points refers to shared chargers that are restricted for usage by a targeted group of users, and single-user chargers in restricted locations.
“For completeness, the Parties submit that they do not compete in the supply of CSMS because ChargEco does not currently supply CSMS but instead engages a third-party CSMS provider,” the statement said.
It also added that according to the concerned parties, the proposed acquisition “will not result in a substantial lessening of competition” based on the following reasons:
“There are numerous existing and potential competitors in the markets for public and private EV charging points;”
“Bidding nature of the industry places competitive pressure on CPOs. Specifically for public EV charging points, the Land Transport Authority (“LTA”) and EV-Electric Charging Pte Ltd are able to ensure competitive pricing and quality services through the tenders and contracts which they run for government sites;”
“End-customers (i.e., EV drivers) and landlords face low costs of switching between different CPOs; and”
“End-customers routinely access EV charging points at various locations for convenience and are not locked into EV charging points at a specific geographic location.”
Submission of the feedback shall be via the official online form, or by email at ccs_consultation@ccs.gov.sg
The last day of submission is Jan. 16 at 5 p.m.
CCS has advised the public to provide a non-confidential version of the submission.
More information on the public consultation can be accessed and downloaded from the CCS website at ccs.gov.sg under the “Public Consultation” section.
