Appeal Court questions whether government should regulate media in merger appeal

Thu, 07 Jun 2018

By Sophie Boot June 7 (BusinessDesk) - The Court of Appeal is grappling with whether the Commerce Commission is able to consider unquantifiable public benefits, like a diverse media, against quantified economic benefits when it makes merger decisions, as New Zealand's dominant newspaper and online news providers ask the court to approve their merger. Last May, the Commerce Commission declined to clear or authorise the merger of NZX-listed NZME and Stuff, the New Zealand arm of ASX-listed Fairfax Media, arguing it would concentrate too muc...

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