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USG Corporation and Boral Limited seek clearance to form a joint venture

Wednesday 4 December 2013, 4:08PM

By Commerce Commission

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The Commission has received a joint application from USG Corporation and Boral Limited seeking clearance to enter into a joint venture.

The proposed joint venture relates to the two parties’ operations in Asia, the Middle East and Australasia for the supply of plasterboard, ceiling tiles and ancillary building products such as metal studs and tracks, metal ceiling grids and metal ceiling battens.

USG Corporation is a supplier of a range of building products and is based in the United States. In New Zealand, USG Corporation primarily supplies ceiling tiles and metal building products.

Boral Limited supplies a range of building products and is based in Australia. Boral Limited has a shareholding in Rondo Building Services Pty Limited which, like USG Corporation, supplies a range of metal building products in New Zealand.

Background

Assessing an application for a merger or acquisition

When considering a proposed merger (or joint venture), the Commission must decide whether the competition that is lost in a market when two businesses merge is substantial. We will give clearance to a proposed merger only if we are satisfied that the merger is unlikely to have the effect of substantially lessening competition in a market.

A fact sheet explaining how the Commission assesses a merger application is available on the Commission’s website at www.comcom.govt.nz/merger-assessment