26 Sept 2018
NZME LIMITED v COMMERCE COMMISSION [2018] NZCA 389
- Citation
- [2018] 3 NZLR 715
- Court
- Court of Appeal
The Court held that s 67 authorisation lawfully permits the Commission to take into account non‑economic and out‑of‑market public detriments such as media plurality and quality; the High Court erred only insofar as it attributed weight to a remote single‑owner political exploitation risk; on the merits the Commission and High Court were correct that the merger was likely to cause substantial and likely reductions in journalistic quality and media plurality that outweighed the quantified efficiency gains, and authorisation was rightly declined.