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Speaker 1: Heather Do for cl So food Stuffs has announced it

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Speaker 1: will appeal the COMMUS Commission's decision not to allow its

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Speaker 1: merger of its North and South Island operations. Food Stuff's

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Speaker 1: North Island CEO Chris quinn I was talking to Kerry

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Speaker 1: wood In this morning and said he doesn't believe a

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Speaker 1: merger will substantially lessen competition, just like the COMMOS Commission

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Speaker 1: thinks it will.

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Speaker 2: These are two regional cooperatives. We don't compete with each

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Speaker 2: other in any way in a retail market, and we

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Speaker 2: don't compete.

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Speaker 1: To buy groceries of suppliers.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 1: Neil Anderson is a competition lawyer at amb Competition Lawyers

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Speaker 1: and with US.

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Speaker 2: Now hey Neil, Hello Heather.

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Speaker 1: It's rare, isn't it for a court to overturn a

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Speaker 1: COMMOS Commission decision like this one, isn't it?

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Speaker 2: It is rare, But it's actually rare for it to

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Speaker 2: come in front of a court in the first place. Really,

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Speaker 2: not a whole lot of declines by the Commas Commission

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Speaker 2: are appealed for practical reasons more than anything else.

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Speaker 1: Why do courts so rarely overturn them?

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Speaker 2: Well, I think it's partly what I just said, which

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Speaker 2: is there are very few instances of appeals actually taken.

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Speaker 2: I think it's primarily that. So you know, the commercial parties,

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Speaker 2: by the time they've been through a clearance process, you know,

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Speaker 2: and then are faced with an appeal process which may

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Speaker 2: push them out of fairther six months. It's quite unusual

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Speaker 2: for a deal to be able to survive that. Normally,

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Speaker 2: if you get declined, that's the commercial parties walk away.

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Speaker 2: So most declines of the Commons Commission aren't actually tested

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Speaker 2: in the courts at all.

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Speaker 1: So that would suggest that that that Food Stuffs believes

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Speaker 1: it has a strong case right because this is going

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Speaker 1: to cost them a lot of money and a lot

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Speaker 1: of time taking this to court, isn't it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it might be, but it may also just reflect

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Speaker 2: that they're not on a burning platform with their transactions.

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Speaker 2: So it's probably one that can be done at any time,

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Speaker 2: and you know they can wait. You know, there's not

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Speaker 2: another buyer and the wings or you know that this

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Speaker 2: is their only deal they have in front of them,

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Speaker 2: and you know, they probably have the time to work

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Speaker 2: through to a conclusion for a deal that they obviously

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Speaker 2: think is valuable. So they're probably in a rare position

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Speaker 2: commit to actually pursue their legal rights.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Neil, thank you very much, really appreciate your time.

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Speaker 1: It's Neil Anderson, competition Lawyer at AMB Competition Lawyers. For

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