Commission clears Wakefield to acquire Bowen Hosp

Commission clears Wakefield to acquire Bowen Hospital

The Commerce Commission has cleared Wakefield Hospital Limited to acquire all of the issued shares in Bowen Hospital Limited and all of the land and buildings situated at its Churchill Drive site in Wellington.

Commission Deputy Chair Paula Rebstock said the Commission is satisfied that the proposed acquisition would not have, nor would be likely to have, the effect of substantially lessening competition in the market for the provision of private hospital facilities and services in the Wellington region.

“In assessing the application, the Commission determined that a combination of two factors would prevent the effect of the merger substantially lessening competition,” Ms Rebstock said.

“Those two factors are: existing competition provided by Boulcott and Southern Cross hospitals preventing the merged entity from exercising unilateral market power following the merger; and countervailing power from funders, such as ACC, and insurance companies constraining the merged entity from exercising market power following the merger.”

Wakefield is a private hospital situated in Newtown, Wellington. Wakefield provides hospital facilities for secondary and tertiary elective surgery.

Bowen is a private hospital situated in Crofton Downs, Wellington. Bowen provides facilities for a specialist sleep disorder clinic and general elective secondary procedures.

The Commission’s written decision on the application will be available soon on the Commission’s website, http://www.comcom.govt.nz, select Adjudication.

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