Jesiflex Proprietary Limited v Kevro Holdings Proprietary Limited (LM106Jul17) [2017] ZACT 56 (7 August 2017)

Jesiflex Proprietary Limited v Kevro Holdings Proprietary Limited (LM106Jul17) [2017] ZACT 56 (7 August 2017)

The Tribunal found that there is no horizontal overlap between the activities of Jesiflex and Kevro, as none of the Acquiring Group's firms compete with Kevro's products. Studio 88, although active in retail apparel, serves a different market segment than Kevro, which supplies promotional apparel to the corporate sector. The Commission's investigation confirmed that the merging parties are not competitors. Furthermore, the transaction does not raise any public interest concerns, as no job losses or restructuring are anticipated. The Tribunal therefore concluded that the merger is unlikely to substantially prevent or lessen competition in any relevant market and does not raise public...

Citation
[2017] ZACT 56
Parties
Applicant: Jesiflex Proprietary Limited; Respondent: Kevro Holdings Proprietary Limited; Respondent: Competition Commission
Court
Competition Tribunal
Jurisdiction
South Africa
Judgment Date
7 August 2017
Case Number
LM106Jul17
Procedural Posture
Large Merger Review / Approval
Outcome
The proposed merger is approved unconditionally.
Judges
Yasmin Carrim, Enver Daniels, Anton Roskam
Legal Topics
Large Merger, Horizontal Overlap, Public Interest, Unconditional Approval
Competition Law Large Merger Horizontal Overlap Public Interest Unconditional Approval

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Parties

Jesiflex Proprietary Limited

Applicant

Kevro Holdings Proprietary Limited

Respondent

Competition Commission

Respondent

Procedural Posture

Large Merger Review / Approval

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the proposed merger between Jesiflex and Kevro would substantially prevent or lessen competition in any relevant market.
  2. 2 Whether the transaction raises any public interest concerns, including employment impacts.
  3. 3 Whether there is any horizontal overlap between the activities of the merging parties.

Ratio Decidendi

The Tribunal found that there is no horizontal overlap between the activities of Jesiflex and Kevro, as none of the Acquiring Group's firms compete with Kevro's products. Studio 88, although active in retail apparel, serves a different market segment than Kevro, which supplies promotional apparel to the corporate sector. The Commission's investigation confirmed that the merging parties are not competitors. Furthermore, the transaction does not raise any public interest concerns, as no job losses or restructuring are anticipated. The Tribunal therefore concluded that the merger is unlikely to substantially prevent or lessen competition in any relevant market and does not raise public...

Court Disposition

The proposed merger is approved unconditionally.

Orders

  • The merger between Jesiflex Proprietary Limited and Kevro Holdings Proprietary Limited is approved without conditions.