The Commerce Commission has received an application from Visy Industrial Plastics NZ Limited seeking clearance to acquire either the issued shares in each of Vertex Group Holdings Limited and Alto Plastics Limited or the plastic packaging business and assets of Vertex and Alto.

Visy Industrial Plastics is a direct subsidiary of Australian company Salvage Pty Ltd. The Commission has previously determined that Visy Industrial is associated with Pratt Holdings Pty Ltd (Decision 524 Visy Industrial Plastics (NZ) Ltd/ACI Operations NZ Ltd), trading as VisyPak.

Visy Industrial manufactures and supplies a range of packaging alternatives. VisyPak manufactures and supplies PET beverage containers, aluminium cans, carton systems and filing equipment.

Vertex and Alto manufacture and supply PET bottles, rigid plastic non-beverage containers, closures and extruded sheet and thermoformed plastic containers.

In considering the application, the Commission's role is to determine whether the acquisition has the effect of substantially lessening competition in a market.

A public version of the application will shortly be available on the Commission's website www.comcom.govt.nz under the Clearances Register.