The Commerce Commission has received an application from Fletcher Building Holdings New Zealand Limited seeking clearance to acquire Higgins Group Holdings Limited, including 50% of shares in the Horokiwi Quarries Limited.

The application excludes Higgins’ ready-mix concrete business, including joint ventures in ready-mix concrete, which will be transferred to existing Higgins’ shareholders prior to the proposed acquisition.

Fletcher Building Holdings New Zealand Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fletcher Building Limited, a NZX and ASX listed company primarily involved in the manufacture and distribution of building materials and in residential and commercial construction. Fletcher Building has operations in New Zealand, Australia, Asia, Europe and the USA.

Higgins is a privately owned New Zealand company that provides civil construction services and is a manufacturer of construction products such as aggregates.

A public version of Fletcher Building Holdings Limited’s clearance application is available on the Clearances Register.

Background

When considering a proposed merger, the Commission must determine whether the 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 the clearances page.