NEW ZEALAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Sarah Keene, Jordan Cox, Antonia Horrocks and Victoria Fowler, Webb Henderson
7.2 Contacting Third Parties The NZCC will typically contact third parties via writ - ten questionnaires. Any third party retains the ability to write to the NZCC and respond to the Statement of Preliminary Issues that is published on the NZCC’s website once an application has been submitted. Further, if required, the third parties can respond to the Statement of Issues and Statement of Unresolved Issues. For non-notified mergers, third parties can contact the NZCC to provide information on a merger. The NZCC will consider whether it needs to test the divestment proposal with any third parties prior to accepting. It does not publicly “market test” divest - The fact of a merger notification and a public ver - sion of the application will be published on the NZCC website. The NZCC will issue a media release, seeking comments on the proposed transaction. The NZCC will not engage publicly on a draft notifi - cation or transaction prior to registration without the parties’ consent. ment undertakings. 7.3 Confidentiality Commercial information can be kept confidential, but only to a defined extent. Applicants and third parties are required to provide both confidential and public versions of submissions and application materials, with sensitive information redacted from the public version. The NZCC will assess confidentiality claims and may withhold or limit disclosure of information where release would prejudice commercial positions or breach obligations of confidence, consistent with the Official Information Act 1982. In addition, the NZCC may use mechanisms such as confidentiality undertakings and restricted disclosure to external advisers only. The proposed amendments to the Commerce Act will increase the confidentiality protections for information provided during a merger process. 7.4 Co-Operation With Other Jurisdictions If approval for a proposed merger is also being sought in another jurisdiction, the NZCC may contact the relevant overseas competition authority to notify the
authority that it has received a clearance or authori - sation application, and to discuss the progress of the application. The NZCC cannot disclose confidential information to another agency without consent from the parties pro - viding the information and therefore will likely request reciprocal confidentiality waivers from the merging parties so that the NZCC and the overseas compe - tition authority can disclose relevant information to each other as required. The NZCC works particularly closely with the Australi - an Competition and Consumer Commission, including each having the ability to appoint Commissioners from the other agency to sit on its merger decision-making body, when both are reviewing the same transaction. 8. Appeals and Judicial Review 8.1 Access to Appeal and Judicial Review Decisions of the NZCC can be appealed to the High Court of New Zealand, with further appeals available to the Court of Appeal and, with leave, the Supreme Court. NZCC decisions can also be subject to judicial review. 8.2 Typical Timeline for Appeals A notice of appeal must be filed within 20 working days of the date of the NZCC’s decision. The overall timeline for an appeal will depend on court availability and workload in New Zealand. The most recent merger appeal is in relation to the merger of the Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island grocery co-operatives, which was declined in Sep - tember 2024. The High Court heard this case in March 2026, with the judgment pending. Few merger cases are appealed in New Zealand, and none successfully in the last decade. 8.3 Ability of Third Parties to Appeal Clearance Decisions There are no third-party rights to appeal a clearance decision. However, third parties may:
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