Statement of Unresolved Issues released for Kegstar’s proposed acquisition of Ko…
The Commerce Commission has published a Statement of Unresolved Issues relating to an application from Kegstar New Zealand Limited.
Kegstar New Zealand Limited is seeking clearance to acquire the kegs, beacons attached to those kegs or held in inventory and the New Zealand keg records from Konvoy New Zealand Limited pursuant to an asset sale agreement.
The Statement of Unresolved Issues outlines the Commission’s potential competition issues with the acquisition following its initial investigation. The Statement of Unresolved Issues is not a final decision and does not mean that the Commission intends to decline or clear the merger.
The Commission is seeking submissions from Kegstar, Konvoy and any other interested parties on the issues raised in the Statement of Unresolved Issues.
The Statement of Unresolved Issues can be found on the case register on our website.
Submissions can be sent by email to registrar@comcom.govt.nz with the reference “Kegstar/Konvoy” in the subject line.
Submissions are due by close of business on 19 December 2025, with cross-submissions due by close of business on 23 January 2026.
The Commission was scheduled to make a decision on the application by 4 December 2025. However, we are seeking agreement from Kegstar to extend this date, and we will update the case register on our website once a new decision date is agreed with Kegstar.
Background
Kegstar and Konvoy both supply beer kegs to breweries on a rental basis, as well as providing logistics services.
We will only 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, pursuant to section 66(3) of the Commerce Act 1986.
The Statement of Unresolved Issues we have published is the third issues statement that the Commission has released on the Proposed Acquisition, and follows the process outlined in our Mergers & Acquisitions Guidelines.
On 5 August 2025, the Commission published a statement of preliminary issues summarising the key points in Kegstar’s application and setting out the issues that we considered important at the start of our investigation.
On 25 September 2025, the Commission published a statement of issues setting out the potential competition issues that we had identified following our initial investigation of the Proposed Acquisition. Following the receipt of submissions on the Statement of Unresolved Issues, the Commission will make its final decision to either clear or decline Kegstar’s application.
Further information explaining how the Commission assesses a merger application is available on our website.