23 Mar 2012

Way cleared for Canterbury lab testing switch

2:30 pm on 23 March 2012

The Commerce Commission has cleared the way for a change of ownership among the main providers of community medical testing in Canterbury.

In a decision just released, the commission has approved the sale of Medlab South to Southern Community Laboratories, or SCL.

Medlab South lost its share of community medical testing in the region to SCL in a decision by the Canterbury District Health Board late last year.

A new partnership between the board's lab and SCL is to be launched next month, involving staff from Medlab South.

The commission says the planned acquisition will also result in the transfer to SCL of Medlab's contracts with the Nelson-Marlborough and South Canterbury DHBs.

It says competition won't be affected, and the ownership change won't affect the ability of Medlab South's owner, Sonic, to compete for contracts.