NZME, Stuff announce merger appeal
NZME and Stuff will seek leave to appeal a High Court ruling that upheld a Commerce Commission block on their proposed merger.
The High Court in December upheld a Commerce Commission ruling in May not to clear or authorise the merger.
NZME said in a sharemarket announcement that the NZX-listed company alongside Stuff and Stuff’s Australian owner, Fairfax Media, would focus their appeal on the issue of media plurality (or media diversity), which was central to the commission’s concerns about the deal.
NZME investor relations manager Paddy Walker said the company hoped the Court of Appeal would hear its appeal during the first half of this year and that it would get a decision during the second half of the year.
Stuff chief executive Sinead Boucher said in an email to staff that it was business as usual in the meantime.
NZME said the commission had ‘‘significantly understated the quantifiable public benefits from the proposed merger’’.
Given the ‘‘potentially significant benefits from the merger’’, NZME was of the view that appealing the High Court decision was in the best interests of NZME, its shareholders and consumers.
Stuff – previously called Fairfax New Zealand – publishes Stuff and about 60 print publications. It also owns community website Neighbourly and a 49 per cent share of internet provider Stuff Fibre.
NZME’s major assets include The New Zealand Herald, about half the country’s commercial radio stations, and daily deals site GrabOne.
NZME shares fell 1 cent to 83c in the wake of the announcement.