The Commerce Commission has received two clearance applications relating to the proposed merger of Vodafone New Zealand Limited (Vodafone NZ) and Sky Network Television Limited (Sky).

Sky is seeking clearance to acquire up to 100% of the assets and/or shares of Vodafone NZ. In a separate application, Vodafone Europe B.V. is seeking clearance to acquire up to 51% of the shares in Sky.

Vodafone Europe is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vodafone Group plc (a company listed on the UK stock exchange). Vodafone Europe is the current owner of Vodafone NZ.

Vodafone NZ is a telecommunications company offering fixed and mobile telecommunications services, including fixed and mobile broadband internet to consumer and business customers. It is also a reseller of Sky services, whereby consumers are invoiced by Vodafone for the provision of a Sky decoder and Sky services.

Sky is listed on both the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges. Its principal business is supplying pay-TV services (including news, sport, movies and general entertainment) to its subscriber base, mainly via satellite.

The proposed acquisitions would result in Vodafone Group directly or indirectly owning 51% of the shares in Sky, which in turn will own 100% of Vodafone NZ. While we have received two separate applications for clearance (for the two separate acquisitions), the Commission is considering the applications together.

Public versions of both applications are available on the Commission’s 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.