Statement Of Preliminary Issues Released For Vocus/2degrees Merger

The Commerce Commission has published a statement of preliminary issues on a clearance application relating to a transaction that would see the merger of the Vocus Group with 2degrees.

The statement outlines the key competition issues that the Commission considers important in deciding whether or not to grant clearance to the proposed merger.

The Commission invites interested parties to provide comments on the likely competitive effects of the proposed merger. Submissions can be sent by email to registrar@comcom.govt.nz with the reference “Vocus/2degrees” in the subject line. Any submissions should be received by close of business on 15 February 2022.

The Commission is currently scheduled to make a decision on the application by 15 March 2022. However, this date may be extended as the investigation progresses.

The Statement of Preliminary Issues and a public version of the application can be found on the Commission’s case register.

Background

The proposed transaction involves a newly incorporated Vocus Group company, Voyage Digital (NZ) Limited, acquiring all of the shares of Orcon Holdings Limited (formerly known as Vocus (New Zealand) Holdings Limited) and then acquiring all of the shares in Two Degrees Group Limited from its shareholders, Trilogy International New Zealand LLC and Tesbrit B.V.

We will 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.

Further information explaining how the Commission assesses a merger application is available on our website.

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