New Zealand: Issued Commerce Commission's decision prohibiting AlphaTheta’s proposed acquisition of Serato

On 18 July 2024, the Commerce Commission denied approval for AlphaTheta's proposed acquisition of Serato. Both companies operate in the DJ segment of the music industry. AlphaTheta supplies DJ hardware under the Pioneer DJ brand and DJ software under the rekordbox brand, while Serato focuses on DJ software. The merger aimed to consolidate ownership of two leading DJ software brands and combine the most popular DJ software brand (Serato) with the most popular DJ hardware brand (Pioneer DJ). The Commerce Commission rejected the acquisition because it did not believe the merger would avoid significantly reducing competition in the DJ software and hardware markets.