The Commerce Commission will not issue any pending business acquisition clearance decisions until after it has had the opportunity to consider the judgment of the Auckland High Court, to be released next week.

Commission Chair John Belgrave said that the Court would decide which test the Commission should apply to the clearance decisions. The Court has said that it expects to release its judgment by Wednesday.

Before recent amendments, the Commerce Act prohibited business acquisitions that resulted in dominance being acquired or strengthened in a market. The amended Act prohibits acquisitions that substantially lessen competition in a market.

The applications that the Commission has on hand now are:

  • Carter Holt Harvey Limited / Central North Island Forest Partnership
  • Howard Smith Limited / OPSM Protector Limited
  • Solid Energy New Zealand Limited / Todd Coal Limited
  • Lowe Corporation Limited / Colyer Mair Limited
  • Computershare Registry Services Limited / BT Portfolio Services (NZ) Limited
  • Caltex New Zealand Limited / Challenge Petroleum Limited
  • Progressive Enterprises Limited / Woolworths (NZ) Limited

Media contact: Director business Competition Branch Geoff Thorn

Phone work (04) 498 0958

Senior Advisor Communications Vincent Cholewa

Phone work (04) 498 0920