StuffMe loses again

Stuff reports:

The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision not to allow Stuff Ltd and NZME to merge.

The full judgment has not yet been publicly released, but the court said in a public “minute” that the companies’ appeal against a Commerce Commission block on their merger had been dismissed.

NZME and Stuff Ltd have been ordered to pay the costs of the appeal.

So the proposed merger has been found to be illegal under competition law by

• The Commerce Commission in a draft determination
• The Commerce Commission in a final determination
• The High Court
• The Court of Appeal

Time for them to give it up.

What will now be interesting is what happens when the Herald introduces a paywall. Will Stuff follow suit?