Supreme Court lets Infratil off the hook

The Supreme Court has declined to grant the Commerce Commission leave to appeal against a lower court's finding that Infratil was not liable as an accessory in a bus business takeover case.

The Court of Appeal earlier upheld a High Court ruling that an Infratil subsidiary's purchase of Mana Coach shares breached the Commerce Act.

In June 2006, NZ Bus Ltd was found guilty of breaching the Commerce Act in attempting to take the 74 per cent stake in the Wellington region bus company that it did not already own, as the purchase would substantially lessen competition.

The High Court ordered NZ Bus to pay $1.1 million in penalties and costs, but did not find Infratil liable as an accessory and nor did the Court of Appeal.

The Supreme Court said on Friday that there was no evidence that Infratil executive Paul Ridley-Smith knew Mana could use existing assets to compete on certain routes and had an understanding with NZ Bus notto compete on certain routes.

The High Court decided that Infratil did not have enough knowledge to appreciate that there was a substantial lessening of competition and the Court of Appeal agreed.

The legal issue dividing the parties in the High Court was whether the accessory must be conscious that the facts known to it established a contravention.

NZ Bus is the holding company for Stagecoach Auckland and Wellington and Cityline Hutt Valley.

- NZPA