Our Expertise
For All Areas
Competition & Regulatory
Our experienced competition and regulatory experts are recognised market leaders. We provide regulatory advice and business solutions to corporate clients across all aspects of competition law and market regulation.
This includes antitrust analysis of mergers and acquisitions, obtaining Commerce Commission clearances and authorisations for acquisitions, structuring joint ventures and other industry arrangements to ensure compliance with competition law, preparing access and supply arrangements, and assisting clients with pricing issues.
We also assist clients with making submissions to government and sector-specific regulators, and to engage on policy issues with them.
We further assist clients with compliance programmes. These range from client-specific online training modules to in-house training presentations.
Our experienced competition litigators act for clients in investigations and court proceedings relating to alleged restrictive trade practices and other anti-competitive behaviour.
Competition law affects all sectors of the economy. Our competition and regulatory experts have an in-depth industry knowledge of a broad range of sectors, including banking, energy, healthcare, tourism, telecommunications, technology, natural resources, building and construction, and retail.
Our Experience
- Advising on New Zealand competition law aspects of the global Stanley Works/Black & Decker acquisition
- Fletcher Building - obtaining clearance from the Commission for its purchase of the Stevenson Group in. This remains the only time the "failing firm" argument has been successfully used
- Haier Group - on competition law aspects of its purchase of Fisher & Paykel Appliances
- Virgin Blue - on the Qantas/Air New Zealand authorisation and in the subsequent High Court proceedings
- Transpower - on the proposed Electricity Governance Board restrictive trade practices authorisation. Also advising generally in relation to design and development of the New Zealand Electricity Market rules, the multilateral agreement on common quality standards, both of which preceded those proposals, and the subsequent design and development of the Electricity Governance Regulations and Rules
- Ruapehu Alpine Lifts/Turoa Ski Resorts - the most recent authorisation from the Commerce Commission on a business acquisition
- Gas Industry Company - the gas industry co-regulatory body, on legal aspects of development of gas industry regulation, including wholesale market development, switching and reconciliation, compliance and the national gas outage contingency protocol and associated rule drafting
- Transpower - in relation to the Commerce Commission investigation and subsequent administrative settlement under the Commerce Act Part 4A electricity lines business targeted control regime
- OMV - on development of an open access regime and associated commercial arrangements for the Maui gas pipeline
