Commission Clears Private Hospitals Merger Subject To Divestment

The Commission has given clearance to Pacific 2021 Bidco NZ Limited (Pacific 2021), which is part-owned by investment funds managed by Pacific Equity Partners (PEP), to acquire 100% of the shares in Pulse Health NZ Limited (Pulse) from Healthe Care Australia Pty Ltd (Healthe Care). The clearance is subject to an undertaking from Pacific 2021 to sell the Boulcott Hospital in Wellington (Undertaking).

The acquisition of Pulse by Pacific 2021 would have resulted in three of the four private surgical hospitals in Wellington being under common ownership.

“The Commission is satisfied that, subject to Pacific 2021 selling the Boulcott Hospital, the acquisition will not have or would not be likely to have the effect of substantially lessening competition in any of the affected markets,” says Commission Chair Anna Rawlings.

Under the terms of the Undertaking, Pacific 2021 is required to sell the Boulcott Hospital as a going concern within a specified timeframe, and to a purchaser approved by the Commission.

A public version of the written reasons for the decision, including the Undertaking, will be available in due course on the Commission’s case register.

Background

Pacific 2021 is part-owned by investment funds managed by PEP, an Australian private equity fund manager. One of these funds part owns the Evolution Healthcare Group (Evolution), which wholly owns both the Bowen and Wakefield Hospitals in Wellington and has ownership interests in several other healthcare operations in New Zealand and Australia.

Healthe Care is a subsidiary of Luye Medical Group Co. Ltd and operates 17 surgical hospitals and day surgery centres around Australia (through Healthe Care Surgical Holdings Pty Ltd), as well as the Boulcott Hospital in Wellington (through Pulse).

We will give clearance to a proposed merger if we are satisfied that the merger is unlikely to have the effect of substantially lessening competition in a market.

Further information explaining how the Commission assesses a merger application is available on our website.

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