Wilson Parking New Zealand Limited (Wilson Parking), a car park business operating throughout New Zealand, has applied to the Commerce Commission for clearance to acquire the leases of 10 car parking sites currently operated by Tournament Parking Limited (Tournament).

The proposed acquisition relates to car parking in Auckland and Wellington.

Wilson Parking, a privately owned company, is New Zealand’s largest public parking provider, operating approximately 270 parking facilities nationwide. It is part of the wider Wilson Group, which operates parking sites throughout Australia and Asia.  

Tournament is a privately owned company that currently operates 13 car parks in Auckland and Wellington.  In 2013, it sold most of its other parking operations to Wilson Parking.

A public version of the application will be available shortly on the Clearances Register.

Background

The Commission investigated whether the 2013 acquisition by Wilson Parking of Tournament’s other parking operations substantially lessened competition. We concluded that the evidence did not support a conclusion that the acquisition substantially lessened competition. This application relates to assets not included in the previous transaction.

When considering a proposed merger or acquisition, the Commission must assess whether the merger would be likely to have the effect of substantially lessening competition.

We will only give clearance to a proposed merger 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 here.