New Zealand: Opened consultation on Commerce Commission statement of unresolved issues regarding AlphaTheta's proposed acquisition of Serato

Description

Opened consultation on Commerce Commission statement of unresolved issues regarding AlphaTheta's proposed acquisition of Serato

On 29 May 2024, the New Zealand Commerce Commission (CC) issued a statement of unresolved issues concerning the proposed acquisition of Serato by AlphaTheta Corporation (ATC) and opened a public consultation until 13 June 2024. Regarding potential unilateral effects in the DJ software market, the CC expressed concerns about the close competition between the two companies. Specifically, CC questioned whether the remaining competitors in the market could sufficiently constrain the merged entity and whether new entrants or existing competitors could expand in a timely and substantial manner to limit the market power of the merged entity. Regarding potential vertical effects in the DJ hardware market, the CC is also concerned that the merged entity may have the ability and incentive to foreclose rival DJ hardware providers by controlling an important input. The CC noted that such foreclosure could substantially lessen competition in the relevant DJ hardware market.

Original source

Scope

Policy Area
Competition
Policy Instrument
Merger control regulation
Regulated Economic Activity
software provider: other software
Implementation Level
national
Government Branch
executive
Government Body
competition authority

Complete timeline of this policy change

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2024-02-07
in consultation

On 7 February 2024, the New Zealand Commerce Commission (CC) issued a statement of issues concernin…

2024-02-21
processing consultation

On 21 February 2024, the public consultation closed on the New Zealand Commerce Commission (CC) sta…

2024-05-29
in consultation

On 29 May 2024, the New Zealand Commerce Commission (CC) issued a statement of unresolved issues co…

2024-06-13
in consultation

On 13 June 2024, the New Zealand Commerce Commission (CC) closes a public consultation on its state…

2024-07-18
in force

On 18 July 2024, the Commerce Commission denied approval for AlphaTheta's proposed acquisition of S…