Commission clears Wesfarmers to acquire Paykel

Media Release

Issued 30 June 2002-03/179

Commission clears Wesfarmers to acquire Paykel

The Commerce Commission has cleared Wesfarmers Industrial & Safety NZ Limited (WISNZ) to acquire the business assets of Paykel Limited.

WISNZ is 100% owned by Wesfarmers Industrial & Safety Holdings NZ Limited. It is the leading supplier of personal protective equipment, safety equipment and workwear in New Zealand. It operates under the brands NZ Safety, Protector Safety Supply and Packaging House.

Paykel Limited is 100% owned by Tiri Group Limited. This acquisition involves Tiri Group Limited selling the business assets of Paykel Limited to WISNZ. Paykel Limited is a New Zealand based Engineering Supplies Company.

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 distribution of engineering/industrial supplies, in the geographic regions in which the aggregation occurs. There are a large number of competitors who either already compete with WISNZ and Paykel, or could easily expand to constrain the merged entity.

The Commission will publish its written report on its website, http://www.comcom.govt.nz/adjudication, shortly.

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