Plans for Yamaha Motor to acquire BRP’s Telwater brand – announced in April 2025 – have hit a stumbling block with the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) raising concerns.
The ACCC believes the plan for Yamaha Motor Australia to purchase the Australian based manufacturer of aluminium trailer boats and trailers could lessen competition in the wholesale supply of outboard motors in the country.
The ACCC is concerned that the merged entity would have the ability and incentive to link the wholesale supply of Yamaha outboard motors to the supply of Telwater aluminium trailer boats.
Barriers to entry and expansion
The national competition watchdog says in turn this would have the effect of reducing rival outboard motor suppliers’ ability to compete and/or increase barriers to entry and expansion.
“As a result of the proposed acquisition, the merged entity would have the ability and incentive to leverage from its position in the wholesale supply of aluminium trailer boats to link the wholesale supply of Yamaha outboard motors to Telwater aluminium trailer boats, either requiring or strongly incentivising Telwater dealers to not supply competing outboard motor brands, or to not supply Telwater aluminium trailer boats with rival outboard motors,” states the ACCC.
“Such strategies risk foreclosing current and future rival outboard motor suppliers’ access to dealers and reducing their scale, significantly impacting competition in the supply of such products.
Rival manufacturers
“This reduction in competition may result in higher prices and reduced choice for consumers.”
The ACCC is also concerned that a material loss in sales for rival trailer boat manufacturers may significantly impact their economies of scale, and in turn their competitiveness.
“These boats are predominantly manufactured in Australia (with most supplied to the domestic market and only a small proportion for export), creating a greater risk that these businesses may be foreclosed and permanently exit the manufacture and supply of such boats,” notes the ACCC.
Repower
However the Commission also notes that any strategy to link the sale of Telwater aluminium trailer boats to Yamaha outboard motors would likely need to avoid requiring end customers that wish to only repower an existing boat to buy a new Telwater aluminium trailer boat.
The ACCC considers that the merged firm is likely able to adopt a strategy which does not affect these repower sales.
Yamaha Motor Company (YMC) manufactures outboard motors in Asia, primarily in Japan, and imports them into Australia through its wholly owned subsidiary, Yamaha which currently supplies outboard motors to more than 100 dealers in Australia.
Yamaha does not manufacture boats in Australia, but YMC subsidiaries manufacture trailer boats overseas for various international markets.
Yamaha and a related business have supplied a small number of these trailer boats to dealers in Australia, primarily via a third-party Australian distributor.
Leading aluminium trailer boat manufacturer
Yamaha also owns the trademarks for a small number of aluminium trailer boat and trailer brands, which were previously licensed to a third-party manufacturer and are not currently in use. Yamaha does not supply trailers for boats in Australia.
Telwater produces more than 8,000 boats and 5,500 trailers a year under several brands including Quintrex, Stacer and Yellowfin.
The company employs around 300 staff at its Gold Coast manufacturing facility and is regarded as the leading aluminium trailer boat brand in Australia.
Limited alternatives
“A Telwater aluminium trailer boat is considered by many dealers to be a very important product, with high brand recognition, limited alternative wholesale suppliers of aluminium trailer boats available and moderate to high barriers to entry and expansion,” states the ACCC.
The acquisition agreement was announced on 1 April 2025, YMC announced that Yamaha had signed agreements with BRP and BRP Australia to acquire 100% of the shares in Telwater and a property in Coomera, Queensland, that is currently used to manufacture, fit and warehouse aluminium trailer boats.
The ACCC is inviting comments from market participants on the competitive effects of the proposed acquisition and will hand down its ruling after reviewing submissions from interested parties.
The sale of Telwater to Yamaha Motor was due to have been settled in the current quarter.
