“We could not exclude a real chance that the merger would result in a substantial lessening of competition for DJ software, resulting in price rises and/or a lower quality offering”: AlphaTheta takeover of Serato is blocked

AlphaTheta Serato.

The proposed takeover of Serato by AlphaTheta has been stopped in its tracks by the New Zealand competition regulatory agency, the Commerce Commission.

AlphaTheta, previously known as Pioneer DJ, announced the $50 million takeover of the New Zealand-based music software firm last year. Had it gone ahead it would have brought Serato and Rekordbox DJ together – together they account for 90% of the DJ software business.