The Commerce Commission has published a statement of preliminary issues relating to an application received from Fletcher Building Limited. The application, received on 19 December 2008, sought clearance for Fletcher Building to acquire up to 100 per cent of the assets of Stevenson Group Limited's (Stevenson) Whangarei masonry business and up to 100 per cent of the assets of Stevenson's Auckland masonry business.

The statement of preliminary issues is a new part of the Commission's clearance process which arose out of consultation with the business community in 2008. The Commission will now routinely issue a statement of preliminary issues as part of its clearance process.

The Commission's statement of preliminary issues and the public version of the application can be accessed via the Commission's website www.comcom.govt.nz under the Clearances Register. The statement of preliminary issues outlines the key competition issues the Commission currently considers will be important in deciding whether or not to grant clearance. A key issue of the current application is whether there are alternative buyers who, if they were to acquire the Stevenson masonry businesses, would result in a better outcome for competition than an acquisition by Fletcher Building.

The Commission also invites submissions from interested parties who consider that they have information relevant to the Commission's consideration of this matter. Submissions can be sent to registrar@comcom.govt.nz with the reference Fletcher Building/Stevenson in the subject line of your email or to

PO Box 2351, Wellington

6140 by 5pm on Wednesday 4 February 2009.

 

No further comment will be made by the Commission until the outcome of the clearance application is announced.

Background

Mergers and Acquisitions Clearance Process Guidelines were issued by the Commerce Commission in November 2008. These guidelines introduced a new stage in the Commission's process, which is to make public a statement of preliminary issue for clearance application received.

The guidelines can be downloaded from the Commission's website www.comcom.govt.nz under Resources/Mergers and Acquisitions Clearance Process Guidelines.

Statement of preliminary issues outlines the key competition issues the Commission currently considers will be important in deciding whether or not to grant clearance. The issues highlighted in a statement are based on the information available at the time of publication and may change as the Commission's assessment of the application for clearance progresses. Therefore, the issues highlighted in a statement of preliminary issues are no way binding on the Commission.

The statement of preliminary issues provides an opportunity for all interested parties to consider the issues identified by the Commission and is intended to facilitate the submission of further information by the merger parties and other interested parties that might assist the Commission's assessment of the application.