The establishment board for the proposed merger of the Dairy Board and up to eight dairy companies today withdrew its application for Commerce Commission authorisation of the proposal.
Commission Chairman John Belgrave said that the establishment board has told the Commission that it will make a new application at an as yet unspecified date in the future.
Mr Belgrave said that the Commission will publicly advise all interested parties of its timetable for considering the new application when that application is made.
On August 27 the Commission published its draft determination stating that its preliminary view of the first application was to decline it because the likely detriments it would cause to competition outweighed any public benefits it would bring.
The draft determination included 48 questions identifying the areas where the Commission wanted further information.
On September 2 the establishment board asked the Commission to delay the authorisation process so that it could answer the questions in the form of a new application.
Today the establishment board formally withdrew its first application.
Background
The Commerce Act prohibits business acquisitions that result in dominance being acquired or strengthened in any markets.
The Act also allows for authorisation of an otherwise prohibited acquisition if the Commission is satisfied that public benefits from it would outweigh its detriments to competition.
The Act gives the Commission 60 working days in which to make its decision and does allow for extensions of time if required.
The authorisation process involves the Commission investigating the application, publishing a draft determination, receiving submissions on the draft determination from interested parties, holding a conference of interested parties, and drawing together the information from its investigation, the submissions and the conference to make a final decision.
