Marlborough Electric and Tasman Energy cleared to acquire Nelson Electricity Ltd
Published17 Jun 1996
The Commerce Commission today cleared the acquisition of 100 % of the shares in Nelson Electricity by Marlborough Electric and Tasman Energy.
The assets of Nelson Electricity, which are owned by the Nelson City Council, are leased until 2001 by Capital Power subsidiary, CitiPower.
Marlborough Electric and Tasman Energy are themselves considering a merger. A consumer consultation process is presently underway. The two power companies are bidding for the Nelson Electricity assets either as a merged entity or as a joint venture company.
Commission Chairman Alan Bollard said that after studying the proposal, the Commission concluded the proposed merger would not result in any company acquiring or strengthening a dominant position in any market.
The Commission considered the impact of the proposal on several electricity distribution and retailing markets.
The Commission's view is a merger of Marlborough Electric, Tasman Energy and Nelson Electricity would result in minor aggregation in the competitive national retail electricity market and a minor loss of cross-border competition in the Tasman Energy electricity distribution market. However, that loss of competition is not such that it would give rise to dominance concerns.
In addition, the competitive constraints currently faced by the companies would not be significantly changed by the proposed acquisition.
Media contact:Communications Officer Vincent Cholewa
