10 January 2005
Southern Cross applies for clearance to acquire
Auckland Surgical Centre
The Commerce Commission has received an application from Southern Cross Health Trust or its interconnected body
corporate (the Trust) to acquire the assets of Auckland Surgical Centre Limited (ASC).
ASC is primarily a day-stay facility at which orthopaedic, plastic, gynaecological, ENT, oral, paediatric, breast,
urology and general surgery is performed, with a particular focus on orthopaedic surgery.
In the Auckland region, the Trust owns two hospitals: Southern Cross Brightside Hospital and Southern Cross North
Harbour Hospital, and is a 50 percent shareholder in Gillies Hospital. All of the Trust’s facilities provide secondary
elective surgery on both a day-stay and in-patient basis.
The acquisition will result in aggregation in the provision of hospital facilities and related non-specialist services
for elective secondary services in the Auckland region.
In considering this application, the Commission’s role is to determine whether the proposed acquisition has the effect
of substantially lessening competition in a New Zealand market.
A public version of the application will shortly be available on the Commission’s website, www.comcom.govt.nz.
ENDS