The Commerce Commission has cleared Goodman Fielder Limited (Goodman Fielder) to acquire the flour and bread assets of River Mill Bakeries Limited (River Mill Bakeries).

Commission Chair Paula Rebstock said that the Commission was satisfied that the proposed acquisition would not have, or would not be likely to have, the effect of substantially lessening competition in any of the relevant markets.

Goodman Fielder is listed on both the Australian and New Zealand stock exchanges and is involved in the manufacture and supply of a wide range of ingredients and food products. The operations relevant to the application for clearance are its New Zealand bakery and flour mill operations. Goodman Fielder's bread brands include: Vogel's, Quality Bakers, Country Split, Freyas, Molenburg, Sunny Crust, MacKenzie, Nature's Fresh and Golden Bake. Its flour mills are situated in Mount Maunganui and Christchurch.

River Mill Bakeries is an independent, privately-owned bread and ingredients manufacturer based in Huntly. It manufactures bread, small goods, pizza bases, frozen goods and cookies as well as importing and distributing a variety of food products. River Mill's bread brands are River Mill, Sun Raised and Millstone, and it produces house brands for Mad Butcher and Export Meats. River Mill Bakeries also owns Canterbury Flour Mills Limited in Ashburton.

A public version of the written decision will be available as soon as practicable on the Commission's website, www.comcom.govt.nz, under the Clearances Register.