Contact Energy's Te Mihi power station. Photo: Contact Energy
The Commerce Commission has delayed a decision on the proposed $2 billion takeover of Manawa Energy by Contact.
The competition regulator said it will put out a statement of issues on the proposed merger, identifying competition concerns needing further investigation.
The paper was not immediately available.
"The Statement of Issues is not a final decision and does not mean that the Commission intends to decline or clear the application for clearance," the regulator said in a statement.
The new deadline for a decision has been extended until 31 March next year.
Contact and Manawa are both generators and wholesalers of electricity, which is sold to other electricity retailers as well as to large commercial and industrial end users.
Contact has its own retail base, but Manawa is the residual generation operation based on a network of small hydro stations left over when the former Trustpower sold its retail business to Mercury in 2022.
It said when it [. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/527665/contact-energy-to-take-over-electricity-generator-manawa-energy made the offer in September] that the two businesses were complementary and would allow for better management of the risk of hydro resources especially in a dry year.
"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. study and resolve," the Commission said.
Some early submitters on the proposal, including smaller retailers and industrial users, opposed the deal because in their view it would lead to increased concentration within the generation sector, and in particular Contact's share.
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