The Commerce Commission has opened an investigation into Objective Corporation Limited’s acquisition of Master Business Solutions Limited (MBS).
The Commission will consider whether the acquisition would be likely to substantially lessen competition in any relevant market in breach of section 47 of the Commerce Act. Objective did not apply for clearance for the acquisition which occurred on 29 November 2019.
Objective and MBS are both suppliers of software used to lodge building consent applications and manage the building consent process. Their brands include Objective Trapeze, AlphaOne, GoGet and GoMobile.
The focus of the investigation will be on the extent of competition that is likely to have been lost between Objective and MBS as a result of the acquisition, and the extent to which the merged entity will likely be constrained from raising prices or lowering the quality of either its products or associated services.
