The Commerce Commission has cleared Coca-Cola Amatil (NZ) Limited (CCA) to acquire the Baker Halls and Baker Halls Original brands, a hot-fill production line and other associated assets from Old Fashioned Foods Ltd (OFF).

Commerce Commission Chair Paula Rebstock said that the Commission was satisfied that the proposed acquisition will not have, or would not be likely to have, the effect of substantially lessening competition in any of the relevant markets. Post-acquisition, CCA will continue to be constrained by existing competition.

Public versions of the written reasons for the decision will be available as soon as practicable on the Commission's website www.comcom.govt.nz under the Clearances Register.

Background

Cordials include fruit juice syrup, squash and other products (usually with a percentage of juice content) made from sweetened fruit extract and sold in liquid concentrate form for dilution with water by the consumer.

CCA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd, a publically listed Australian company. CCA has the exclusive licence to bottle the Coca-Cola brand beverages in New Zealand. It employs approximately 1100 people and has five bottling plants in New Zealand.

The Baker Hall business is a cordial manufacturing and marketing business based in Auckland. It is 100% owned by OFF, a manufacturer and exporter of food and beverages globally.