The Commerce Commission has received a clearance application from Daiken New Zealand Limited to acquire 100% of the shares in Dongwha New Zealand Limited.

Daiken is the New Zealand subsidiary of Daiken Corporation, a Japanese company specialising in the manufacture and supply of wood-based construction materials. In New Zealand, Daiken manufactures and supplies medium density fibreboard (MDF) from a plant it operates in North Canterbury.

Dongwha is 80% owned by Dongwha International Co., Limited (a company incorporated in Hong Kong) and 20% owned by Laminex Group (N.Z.) Limited. In New Zealand, Dongwha manufactures and supplies MDF from a plant it operates in Southland. Its minority shareholder, Laminex (which is part of Fletcher Building Products Limited), purchases MDF from Dongwha for its own wood products business in New Zealand. Laminex also on-sells some of the MDF it purchases from Dongwha to other parties.

A public version of the clearance application will be available shortly on the Commission’s Clearances Register.

Background

When considering a proposed merger, the Commission must determine whether any competition that would be lost with the merger would be substantial. We will give clearance to a proposed merger only if we are satisfied that the merger is unlikely to have the effect of substantially lessening competition in a market.

A fact sheet explaining how the Commission assesses a merger application is available on our clearances page.