The Commerce Commission has turned down an application by the three biggest shareholders of Acurity Healthcare Group to take the private hospital operator over, saying it would leave the group as the "only significant provider in the greater Wellington region" for some procedures.
The antitrust regulator turned down the application by Connor Healthcare to buy the shares of Acurity it didn't already own, which would have put three of the Wellington region's four private hospital under the group's ownership, it said in a statement late yesterday. The regulator wasn't satisfied the deal wouldn't be likely to substantially lessen competition for private hospital medical procedures in the region, it said.
"For medical insurance providers, the greater the number of hospitals they have to play off against each other, the more competitive the price they will achieve which ultimately benefits consumers," commission chair Mark Berry said. "If the acquisition proceeded insurers would have had one less option and for some procedures Connor Healthcare would have been the only significant provider in the greater Wellington region."
• Big Acurity shareholders launch takeover bid
• Hospital takeover bid gets greenlight
Connor is made up of Sydney-based Evolution Healthcare, which separately owns Boulcott Hospital in Lower Hutt, and Acurity's other two major shareholders being the Stewart family and the Royston Hospital Trust. The group had crossed the 90 per cent threshold needed to mop up the remaining shares, and needed antitrust approval for the deal to proceed.
