Commission grants clearance to Port of Tauranga

24 September 2004-05/036

Commission grants clearance to Port of Tauranga and Toll

The Commerce Commission has cleared the acquisition by a yet to be formed joint venture company, Newco, owned 50 percent by Port of Tauranga Limited and 50 percent by Toll Limited, of all the shares in The Owens Cargo Company Limited, Toll Logistics (NZ) Limited and Leonard and Dingley Limited.

In making its decision, the Commission considered a number of markets involving the provision of land-based services for the import and export of different types of cargo.

Commission Chair Paula Rebstock said the Commission was satisfied that the proposed acquisition would not have, nor would be likely to have the effect of substantially lessening competition in any of the relevant markets due to existing competition or countervailing power in those markets.

A public version of the Commission’s decision will be available shortly on the Commission’s website www.comcom.govt.nz, under Adjudication.

Background Port of Tauranga is a Tauranga based port company listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange. Its main activities are the ownership and operation of the wharf infrastructure and marine services at the Port of Tauranga.

Owens Cargo is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Port of Tauranga. Its main services are log and general cargo marshalling, inventory management, storage, consolidation and container handling.

Toll is owned by Toll Group (NZ) Limited, which is wholly-owned by Toll Holdings Limited (Australia). In NZ, Toll has an integrated national network of rail, road and sea freight transportation, distribution and logistics management services, and inter-island and urban passenger services.

Toll Logistics is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toll. Its services include log stevedoring services and general cargo marshalling and stevedoring at several ports in NZ.

Leonard & Dingley is also a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toll, and specialises in stevedoring services at the Ports of Auckland.

ENDS

© Scoop Media