By Joshua Eveleigh On the 1 June 2021, the South African Competition Commission (SACC) released its media statement announcing the prohibition of ECP Africa’s proposed acquisition of Burger King (South Africa) and Grand Foods Meat Plant Pty (Ltd) from Grand Parade Investments. AAT published a note on this precedent-setting decision here. Despite finding that the […]
By Charl van der Merwe The South African Competition Commission (SACC) made headlines with its first prohibition of an intermediate merger that was based solely on public-interest grounds. Emerging Capital Partners (ECP), a private equity firm founded in the US, was to acquire all Burger King assets from South African Grand Parade Investments, a South […]
In one of the few megamergers of the 2019/2020 season, the South African Competition Tribunal approved, subject to a wide range of public interest related conditions, PepsiCo’s acquisition of South Africa’s largest FMCG producers, Pioneer Foods. In predictable fashion, this was not the type of transaction which would escape the attention of Minister Patel (who […]
On 7 February 2018 the Competition Authority of Botswana (“The Competition Authority”) approved, with conditions, the acquisition by Bradleymore’s Holdings (Pty) Ltd (“Bradleymore’s”), which is incorporated in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Botswana (a joint venture between Vivo Energy Africa Holdings Limited and Baobab Khulisani South Africa (Pty) Ltd) of KFC franchises […]
By Michael-James Currie Background On 1 December 2017, the Minister of Economic Development (under whose auspices the South African competition authorities fall), Ebrahim Patel, published draft amendments to the South African Competition Act [PDF], 89 of 1998 (Act) for public comment. The proposed amendments (Amendments) to the Act, which principally aim to address concentration in […]
South Africa: Driving Force behind Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions for Cartelists? By AAT Senior Contributor, Michael-James Currie In May 2016, precisely a year ago, criminal liability for directors or persons with management authority who cause a firm to engage in cartel conduct was introduced in South Africa by way of amendments to the Competition Act. […]
In the wake of Citibank entering into a R69 million settlement agreement with the South African Competition Commission (SACC), the Bank’s executives now face the threat of criminal sanctions as well. Citibank’s settlement follows the SACC’s complaint referral in which it is alleged that up to 18 banking entities had engaged in collusive conduct in […]
Coca-Cola/SAB Miller merger prompts onerous conditions Written by Jenna Foley, AAT contributor The agreement between The Coca-Cola Company, SABMiller and Gutsche Family Investments to combine their soft-drink bottling operations in Southern and East Africa has been met with the proposal of onerous merger conditions. The new bottling company, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, will bottle 40% of […]
Public-Interest Considerations in Competition Policy Take Center Stage… Once Again By Michael Currie An increasing trend in South Africa’s competition regulatory environment is the emphasis that the competition authorities and policy makers are placing on what is known as public-interest provisions. While we have authored a number of articles that have been published on African […]
The article below, fitting nicely with AAT’s prior reporting on the “creeping public-interest factors” in African competition law, was submitted to the Department of Law, University of Cape Town, by guest author Abigail Machine. It reflects the author’s view only. Public Interest Test and Merger Control in South Africa: The Walmart Case Revisited The new […]
African Antitrust & Competition Law 