November 2005
Sky applies for clearance to acquire Prime Television
30 November 2005
The Commerce Commission has received an application from Sky Network Television Limited seeking clearance to acquire the television broadcasting business of Prime Television New Zealand Limited (Prime).Relates to:
Gallagher cleared to acquire the business assets of Greyson Gates
30 November 2005
The Commerce Commission has cleared Gallagher Group Limited to acquire all of the business assets of Greyson Gates Limited.Relates to:
Reckitt Benckiser cleared to acquire Boots Healthcare International
30 November 2005
The Commerce Commission has cleared Reckitt Benckiser plc to acquire the shares, manufacturing assets and intellectual property of Boots Healthcare International (BHI).Relates to:
Fonterra applies for clearance to acquire the shares in Kapiti Fine Foods and United Milk
29 November 2005
The Commerce Commission has received an application from Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited seeking clearance to acquire the shares in Kapiti Fine Foods Limited and United Milk Limited from Foodstuffs (Wellington) Co-operative Society Limited.Relates to:
TradeMe warned over unsafe cots
28 November 2005
TradeMe and five of its customers have been warned by the Commerce Commission about offering unsafe cots for sale over the internet-based trading site.Relates to: Fair Trading
Court dismisses Unison's challenge to electricity thresholds
28 November 2005
The High Court has dismissed challenges by Unison Networks Limited to the Commerce Commission's thresholds for large electricity lines businesses.Relates to: Electricity
GE Finance applies for clearance to acquire the business and assets of Pacific Retail's Finance Group
28 November 2005
The Commerce Commission has received an application from GE Finance and Insurance Limited seeking clearance to acquire Pacific Retail's Finance Group, made up of the business and assets of Pacific Retail Services Limited; Pacific Retail Finance Limited; Montreal Financial Services Limited; and 100% of the shares of Simply Insurance New Zealand Limited.Relates to:
Telecom withdraws radio spectrum application
25 November 2005
Telecom New Zealand Limited has withdrawn its s66 clearance application to acquire the radio spectrum management rights, known as MED radio frequency auction No 5 lot 01 WLL 06, from Counties Power Limited.Relates to:
Transpower price rises must be justified: Commerce Commission
25 November 2005
Yesterday Transpower, the electricity transmission company which runs the national grid, announced its intention to increase transmission charges by 19 percent from June 2006, and follow this with annual increases of up to 13 percent a year for a further four years.Relates to: Electricity
Commission settles with TelstraClear on unauthorised switching
24 November 2005
TelstraClear has agreed to change its approach to telemarketing and audit its compliance with the Fair Trading Act after a Commerce Commission investigation found that it had switched customers to the TelstraClear network without their consent. The practice is known as "unauthorised switching."Relates to: Fair Trading
Essilor cleared to acquire two optical processing laboratories
24 November 2005
The Commerce Commission has cleared Essilor New Zealand Ltd to acquire up to 100% of shares in Optical Laboratories NZ Ltd and all shares in Prolab (Wellington) Ltd.Relates to:
Air New Zealand adverts misleading: Court
24 November 2005
Air New Zealand has been found guilty of breaching the Fair Trading Act by misleading customers about the real price of its airfares.Relates to: Fair Trading
Commerce Commission considers Fonterra not in breach in including capital profits
22 November 2005
The Commerce Commission has reached a preliminary view that Fonterra has not breached the Dairy Industry Restructuring (Raw Milk) Regulations 2001 by including capital profits in retention when calculating the wholesale milk price.Relates to:
Phone card adverts must show true costs of calls: Commission
21 November 2005
The Commerce Commission has reached a settlement with two Australian-based providers of prepaid calling cards, Cardcall Pty Ltd and Global Card Services Pty Ltd, after an investigation found that hidden costs and conditions meant customers were charged more for calls than they expected.Relates to: Fair Trading
Process for dealing with Vodafone's commercial offer in mobile termination reconsideration
17 November 2005
Vodafone has provided to the Commission key terms of its offer to reduce mobile termination rates as an alternative to regulation.Relates to: Telecommunications
Telecommunications Act: Commission decides to investigate extension of regulated services
16 November 2005
The Commerce Commission has today released its decision to investigate whether to extend the period of regulation of the thirteen telecommunications services originally incorporated within the Telecommunications Act. The Commission has decided that there are reasonable grounds to investigate ten of the thirteen services, including the interconnection, retail resale, national roaming and number portability services, and co-location on cellular mobile transmission sites. Once the investigations are complete, the Commission will recommend to the Minister of Communications whether or not to extend the period of regulation for up to a further two years.Relates to: Telecommunications
Commerce Commission to hold conference on intention to declare control of Unison
15 November 2005
The Commerce Commission will hold a conference to hear submissions on its intention to declare control over the electricity distribution services supplied by Unison Networks Limited.Relates to: Electricity
NZRU applies to Commission for authorisation
10 November 2005
The New Zealand Rugby Football Union Incorporated (NZRU) has applied to the Commerce Commission for authorisation to enter into a contract to which sections 27, 29 or 30 of the Commerce Act might apply. The relevant contract is the Collective Employment Agreement between the NZRU and Rugby Players Collective Incorporated, which was entered into on 1 November 2005.Relates to: Business Competition
Celluslim pill promoters to pay $256,000 in fines and refunds
9 November 2005
Misleading representations about "Celluslim", a purported weight loss and cellulite reduction product, have landed Dennis O'Neill and Martini Limited with $61,000 of fines and costs and a $195,000 refund bill.Relates to: Fair Trading
Fonterra cleared to acquire the branded butter and spreads business of NZDF
9 November 2005
The Commerce Commission has cleared Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited to acquire from New Zealand Dairy Foods Limited (Rank Group) the 'Anchor', 'Fernleaf' and 'Country Soft' brands and associated business.Relates to:
Telecommunications Act: Broadband Monitoring
9 November 2005
The Commerce Commission has completed the fifth quarter of its monitoring of uptake of residential broadband services provided or supported by Telecom New Zealand Limited.Relates to: Telecommunications
Lack of labelling lands trader with conviction
7 November 2005
A clothing importer and retailer received a $15,000 fine on Friday for contravening the consumer standards for country of origin, fibre content and care instruction labelling.Relates to: Fair Trading
Telecom broadband target clear
4 November 2005
Telecom has been clearly informed that the target of 250,000 residential broadband connections monitored by the Commission require that more than a third of those connections will be resold Jetstream products or wholesaled bitstream services, says Telecommunications Commissioner Douglas Webb.Relates to: Telecommunications
Commission provides update on TSO draft determination
2 November 2005
The Commerce Commission has provided a brief update to industry on its progress towards releasing a draft determination on the telecommunications service obligations (TSO) instrument for the 2003/2004 and 2004/2005 years. The Commission has also sought comment on a range of questions related to the TSO for the 2003/2004, 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 years.Relates to: Telecommunications
Fake Manuka Honey trader's second prosecution
2 November 2005
A trader has been convicted for a second time for falsely labelling honey as UMF or Active Manuka honey.Relates to: Fair Trading
Reckitt Benckiser applies for clearance to acquire Boots Healthcare International
2 November 2005
The Commerce Commission has received an application from Reckitt Benckiser plc seeking clearance to acquire the shares, manufacturing assets and intellectual property of Boots Healthcare International.Relates to:
Gallagher applies for clearance to acquire the business assets of Greyson Gates
2 November 2005
The Commerce Commission has received an application from Gallagher Group Limited, seeking clearance to acquire all of the business assets of Greyson Gates Limited.Relates to:
