The Commerce Commission has received an application from New Zealand Post Limited seeking clearance for it to acquire certain courier business assets of PBT Group Limited (PBT).
Specifically, NZ Post seeks to acquire PBT’s existing contracts with businesses who have signed contracts to use PBT’s courier services, the Commission said in a statement today.
NZ Post and PBT are both suppliers of courier services in New Zealand.
“NZ Post is a state-owned enterprise that provides mail, courier and logistics services. Relevant to the application, NZ Post operates a domestic small parcel courier business. It is the largest provider of such services in New Zealand,” the Commission said.
“PBT provides freight, courier and logistics services throughout New Zealand. It is 75% owned by Waterman Capital. Relevant to the application, PBT provides courier services primarily to business customers in New Zealand.”
The company contracts approximately 200 courier van owner-operators to deliver its services. The contracts with these owner-operators are not being acquired by NZ Post, the Commission confirmed.
“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,” it said.
Further information explaining how the Commission assesses a merger application is available on its website. A public version of the clearance application will be available shortly on the Commission’s case register.
