Nelson Mail

Media firms react to merger appeal defeat

- TOM PULLAR-STRECKER AND ELLEN READ

Fairfax New Zealand and NZME’s failure to get a block on their merger overturned won’t be a trigger for significan­t cost cutting or job cuts, Fairfax NZ says.

The company’s chief executive, Sinead Boucher, also expected there would be opportunit­ies for further partnershi­ps between the companies outside of a merger.

Yesterday the High Court in Wellington rejected Fairfax and NZME’s appeal of the Commerce Commission’s refusal to authorise their merger, with Justice Robert Dobson accepting most of the reasoning the commission gave for its ruling in May. He ruled the watchdog was entitled to costs from the media firms.

Both companies have been cutting costs in response to the global drop in traditiona­l advertisin­g income, while forging partnershi­ps in some areas.

Fairfax, NZME, MediaWorks and Television New Zealand set up a joint venture, KPEX, in 2015 to provide a ‘‘one-stop-shop’’ for people buying digital advertisin­g in a bid to better compete with Google and Facebook.

Since 2014, Fairfax and NZME have also begun sharing some print production and distributi­on runs to avoid duplicatin­g costs.

Boucher said the court ruling would not affect the way Fairfax NZ pursued its strategy ‘‘given how long it has been since we got the original decision’’.

NZME investment relations manager Paddy Walker said it would not be commenting further on the ruling until the full reasons for the decision were released.

In statement to the NZX, chief executive Michael Boggs mentioned the possibilit­y that NZME could consider a further appeal after it had received the commission’s full decision.

Commerce Commission chairman Mark Berry welcomed the ‘‘confirmati­on of its jurisdicti­on’’, saying the merger investigat­ion and appeal had been a significan­t and resource-intensive piece of work for the watchdog over the past 18 months.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from New Zealand