The Star: May 19, 2022

More documents

Recommendations

Info

The Star Thursday May 19 2022 20 BUSINESS Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz Vodafone, Commerce Commission both appeal record $2.24m fine • By Chris Keall VODAFONE NZ and the Commerce Commission both say they’ll appeal a $2.24 million fine over the telco’s historic “FibreX” marketing. The regulator says the fine, which was handed down in the Auckland District Court on April 14, is too low to act as a deterrent. The telco wants to overturn both the fine and the High Court conviction that led to the penalty. On April 3 last year, Vodafone was found guilty of misleading consumers with its 2016-2018 “FibreX” marketing campaign for the hybrid fibre-coaxial (aka copper) cable service it offers in parts of Christchurch, the Kapiti Coast and Wellington. It began as a cable TV service operated by Telstra Saturn, and was inherited by Vodafone when it bought TelstraClear in 2012. Vodafone says it’s spent tens of millions on upgrades since. Charges were brought under the Fair Trading Act and the telco faced potential fines of up to $16m. The ComCom had sought a $5.8m penalty. Judge Pippa Sinclair found Vodafone’s branding and advertising was liable to mislead MARKETING: Fibre X promoted at a Vodafone store in October 2017. PHOTO: CHRIS KEALL/NZ HERALD consumers into thinking that the FibreX branded service was part of the UFB fibre network. She rejected Vodafone’s argument that consumers would understand that FibreX was a “fibre-like” network delivering superfast reliable broadband but not pure fibre, due to the ‘X’ in its name. Commerce Commission chair Anna Rawlings said this morning that the $2.25m fine did not appropriately reflect the seriousness of the offending, and the size and financial resources of Vodafone. The commission will argue in its appeal that Vodafone’s conduct was wilful, rather than grossly careless, and allowed Vodafone to make significant commercial gains, Rawlings said. “The fines imposed for this type of offending must be significant enough to deter Vodafone and other large businesses from engaging in this type of conduct in the future.” “We are very disappointed with the outcome and respectfully disagree with the court’s decisions,” Vodafone NZ said in a statement. “Our appeal will set out our strong belief that there are several errors with the original conviction decision and that there are aspects of the FibreX judgment that simply misunderstand the services we sell and are not in the best interests of consumers or future competition.” The telco says its HFC service does indeed offer fibre-like service, and says that has been proven by the Commerce Commission’s own benchmark testing, which found that, in Vodafone’s summary, 100 per cent of HFC Max plans were all able to stream four simultaneous UHD (ultra high definition or 4K) Netflix streams, offering an equivalent experience to Fibre to the Home plans in this respect. The twin appeals come a day after the telco industry introduced two new marketing codes, at the Commerce Commission’s direction, which are aimed, in part, at boosting customer rights and making it easier to compare different broadband options. —NZ Herald Merger, acquisition activity still high – PwC • By Jamie Gray MERGER AND acquisition (M&A) activity in New Zealand remained high in the first quarter, with private equity investors again featuring prominently, PwC said. Corporate activity in the education technology sector is booming and PwC said it was not seeing any signs of a slowdown. Deal volume is in line with levels seen throughout 2021 – a record year, PwC said. A number of 2021 deals also continued into 2022 and have been announced in this first quarter. Healthcare and educational technology featured strongly in the data. Significant levels of deal activity continued during the first quarter of 2022 with 45 deals completed or announced. “While this is below the numbers we saw in Q2, Q3, and Q4 of 2021, it is still considerably higher than pre-pandemic levels and more than Q1 2021,” PwC said. Regan Hoult, corporate finance leader at PwC told the Herald M&A activity had driven by a combination of factors. “Looking at the data, there has been strong international interest. “The other theme that came through was strong private equity activity throughout the quarter. Regan Hoult “We continue to see private equity, both on the demand side of transactions – being big acquirers of businesses and also ultimately suppliers of businesses,” he said. Low interest rates have helped corporate balance sheets and how they look at acquisitions. “Institutions are looking at private equity as an asset class that can provide strong returns against the other asset classes, which ultimately flows through into deal activity. “Yes, there are definitely headwinds around inflation, supply chains, rising interest rates and the geopolitical situation, but there is still a lot of private equity capital looking to invest,” Hoult said. Corporates “may sit on their hands”, focus on their balance sheets, and look at their strategy in the current environment. “With the challenges that STEADY: PwC says private equity investment in New Zealand companies has continued unabated in the first quarter. PHOTO: NZ HERALD come up through supply chain issues and inflation, consolidation can often be something that can drive value,” he said. In its report, PwC said that in education technology (EdTech), products that demonstrate improved learning outcomes and means of adapting learning to changing learner and teacher expectations are increasingly sought after. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak in early 2020, PwC has advised on three New Zealand based EdTech transactions with international investors – Totara Learning, Education Perfect, The Mind Lab. Buyer interest in the sector was not showing any signs of reducing PwC expects to see robust deal activity continue throughout 2022 due to the significant amounts of capital still available in the market. “Strong valuations and increasing market uncertainty may lead to business owners wanting to accelerate the timing of exits.” PwC cross-border deal flow was strong in the quarter -–20 of the 45 deals involved offshore buyers. Australia (nine deals) and the USA (six deals) continued to drive international buyer activity. The technology, media and telecoms (TMT) sector continued to see the most activity, while financial services and industrials and chemicals also featured prominently. TMT (14 deals) accounted for almost a third of all activity during the quarter. Nine of the 45 deals announced during Q1 2022 involved a private equity buyer. Over the last couple of years M&A activity in the healthcare sector had significantly increased and valuations were higher than ever before, PwC said. There have been a number of substantial transactions in recent months including the sale of Evolution Healthcare, Canopy Cancer, Fertility Associates, Pacific Radiology, Obex Medical and The Selwyn Foundation’s aged-care assets. Work on healthcare-related transactions in the past year would represent circa 20 per cent of PwC’s M&A related work. “Covid-19 has heightened investor awareness in the healthcare sector and the importance of the health system, leading to increased interest and activity,” the report said. —NZ Herald
ARA INSTITUTE OF CANTERBURY Confidence grows with degree preparation course Not everyone has the confidence or academic ability to launch straight into a degree, no matter how determined they might be to gain one. Which is why Ara Institute of Canterbury offers a short preparation course called the New Zealand Certificate in Study and Career Preparation. Available in-class at Ara’s Christchurch City campus or online, the 19-week course ensures that participants can meet their chosen degree’s entry requirements and that they have the study skills and self-confidence needed to be successful. The course is designed specifically as preparation for Ara degrees (and in some cases diplomas) in health, lab science, social work, business, ICT, architectural studies, and engineering. “If you want start a degree with us next year, but you don’t meet the entry requirements or you just want to brush up on your academic skills, this course is perfect,” says Melissa Barber, head of Ara’s Department of Applied Sciences and Social Practice. “And it’s especially good if you’ve been away from study for a while.” Melissa adds that the course can be studied anywhere “whether you’re in Picton, Hokitika, Temuka or anywhere else” and fits around other commitments such as work and family. Zoe Liu decided she wanted to be a nurse but she didn’t have any background in science. Ara suggested she do the preparation course before starting a degree the following year. She did, and it turned out to be exactly what she needed. “The course was amazing,” Zoe says. “As a mature student, as well as an international student, I was a bit worried to begin with, but I had great tutors who were really patient with all my questions. I learned a lot about the human body, my English improved and I became more confident in myself and in my decisions.” Zoe says she felt “fully ready” to start her nursing degree after completing the certificate. “With all the knowledge and study skills I’d developed, I was confident I’d do well. I felt really great about it.” Prompt application is recommended as places in the July intake are filling fast. For more details, see ara.ac.nz. Thursday May 19 2022 The Star 21 Tegan Ara graduate for higher-level study The Certificate in Study and Career Preparation – starting in July - is the perfect way to prepare for higher-level study at Ara. In only six months you can achieve the entry requirements and gain the skills and confidence needed to begin a degree or diploma in health, science, social work, business, ICT, architectural studies, construction, engineering or broadcasting. Apply now at ara.ac.nz.
Page 1 and 2: THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022 connecting y
Page 3 and 4: Thursday May 19 2022 The Star •
Page 5 and 6: Thursday May 19 2022 The Star Lates
Page 7 and 8: Thursday May 19 2022 The Star Lates
Page 9 and 10: Latest Canterbury news at starnews.
Page 11 and 12: Thursday May 19 2022 The Star 11 CA
Page 13 and 14: Thursday May 19 2022 The Star 13 Jo
Page 15 and 16: • By Damien Venuto A CHRISTCHURC
Page 17 and 18: Latest Canterbury news at starnews.
Page 19: Thursday May 19 2022 The Star 19 Pr
Page 23 and 24: Interesting Indoors SUPER RUGBY Pac
Page 25 and 26: 2013 Volkswagen Tiguan TSi h tp: /k
Page 27 and 28: Personals SINGLE INDEP CHARMING GEN
Page 29 and 30: $15,999 h tp: /kaywa.me/8aVdQ downl
Page 31 and 32: Thursday May 19 2022 The Star 31 ch
Page 33 and 34: Thursday May 19 2022 The Star 33 Tu
Page 35 and 36: Thursday May 19 2022 The Star 35 Ha

The Star: May 19, 2022

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?