The Commerce Commission will be releasing a Statement of Unresolved Issues for the application from Altano New Zealand Limited (Altano) (which owns the Cambridge Equine Hospital and the Waikato Equine Veterinary Centre) seeking clearance to acquire 100% of the shares in Matamata Veterinary Services Limited (MVS). This is because the material before the Commission at this time does not allow it to be satisfied that the proposed acquisition will not have, or would not be likely to have, the effect of substantially lessening competition in a market in New Zealand.
The Statement of Unresolved Issues will be published on the Commission's case register in due course, and will outline the Commission's provisional competition issues with the proposed acquisition. The Statement of Unresolved Issues will invite submissions from Altano, MVS, and other interested parties.
A Statement of Unresolved Issues is not a final decision and does not mean that the Commission intends to decline or clear the merger.
Background
Both Altano and MVS operate equine-focussed vet practices located in the Waikato region.
We will only give clearance to a proposed merger if we are satisfied that the merger is unlikely to have the effect of substantially lessening competition in a market.
