Tedelex Trading (Pty) Ltd and Others v Competition Commission, In re: Tedelex Trading (Pty) Ltd v Sammeg Satellite (Pty) Ltd and Others (05/AM/Jan12) [2012] ZACT 58; [2012] 2 CPLR 405 (CT) (18 July 2012)

Tedelex Trading (Pty) Ltd and Others v Competition Commission, In re: Tedelex Trading (Pty) Ltd v Sammeg Satellite (Pty) Ltd and Others (05/AM/Jan12) [2012] ZACT 58; [2012] 2 CPLR 405 (CT) (18 July 2012)

The Tribunal found that the proposed merger between Tedelex Trading (Pty) Ltd and the Sammeg firms would not substantially prevent or lessen competition in any relevant market, as the parties supply mostly complementary products and the market for electrical accessories is broad with many competitors. The estimated market share of the merged entity was not significantly high, whether based on the parties' or competitors' estimates. The only public interest concern identified was the potential for job losses due to operational integration. The Tribunal held that the revised condition, which prohibits only merger-specific retrenchments for two years and requires justification for any...

Citation
[2012] ZACT 58
Parties
Applicant: Tedelex Trading (Pty) Ltd; Applicant: Sammeg Satellite (Pty) Ltd; Applicant: Sammeg Cape (Pty) Ltd; Applicant: Sammeg KZN (Pty) Ltd; Respondent: Competition Commission
Court
Competition Tribunal
Jurisdiction
South Africa
Judgment Date
18 July 2012
Case Number
05/AM/Jan12
Procedural Posture
Review Application / Merger Approval With Conditions
Outcome
Merger conditionally approved subject to revised public interest conditions.
Judges
Yasmin Carrim, Medi Mokuena, Andreas Wessels
Legal Topics
Merger Control, Public Interest Conditions, Employment Effects, Market Share Estimation
Competition Law Merger Control Public Interest Conditions Employment Effects Market Share Estimation

Case Brief

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Parties

Tedelex Trading (Pty) Ltd

Applicant

Sammeg Satellite (Pty) Ltd

Applicant

Sammeg Cape (Pty) Ltd

Applicant

Sammeg KZN (Pty) Ltd

Applicant

Competition Commission

Respondent

Procedural Posture

Review Application / Merger Approval With Conditions

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the proposed merger between Tedelex Trading (Pty) Ltd and the Sammeg firms would substantially prevent or lessen competition in any relevant market.
  2. 2 Whether the public interest concerns, specifically regarding employment, are adequately addressed by the revised merger conditions.

Ratio Decidendi

The Tribunal found that the proposed merger between Tedelex Trading (Pty) Ltd and the Sammeg firms would not substantially prevent or lessen competition in any relevant market, as the parties supply mostly complementary products and the market for electrical accessories is broad with many competitors. The estimated market share of the merged entity was not significantly high, whether based on the parties' or competitors' estimates. The only public interest concern identified was the potential for job losses due to operational integration. The Tribunal held that the revised condition, which prohibits only merger-specific retrenchments for two years and requires justification for any...

Court Disposition

Merger conditionally approved subject to revised public interest conditions.

Orders

  • The intermediate merger between Tedelex Trading (Pty) Ltd and Sammeg Satellite (Pty) Ltd, Sammeg Cape (Pty) Ltd, and Sammeg KZN (Pty) Ltd is approved subject to the attached revised conditions.
  • No employees of either Tedelex or the target firms may be retrenched for a period of two years after the Approval Date, unless such retrenchments are not merger-specific and are properly motivated by the merged entity.