The Commerce Commission has received an application from Connor Healthcare Limited seeking clearance to acquire all of the shares that it does not currently own in Acurity Health Group Limited. Connor Healthcare already has a 12% shareholding in Acurity.

The proposed acquisition would affect the provision of private hospital facilities and related services in the greater Wellington region.

Connor Healthcare is 100% owned by Evolution Healthcare which also owns Boulcott Hospital in Lower Hutt.

Acurity is a publicly listed company on the New Zealand stock exchange which owns and operates the Wakefield and Bowen private hospitals in Wellington and the Royston private hospital in Hastings.

If the proposed acquisition goes ahead, Acurity will be 100% owned by Connor Healthcare, and Connor Healthcare will be 75% owned by Austron and 25% by Evolution Healthcare.

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

Background

Assessing an application for a merger or acquisition

When considering a proposed merger or acquisition, the Commission must decide whether the competition that is lost in a market when two businesses merge is 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 to read.