CA records slight decrease in mergers
Staff Writer | Friday December 23, 2016 12:27
In its latest annual report, the Authority stated that a total of 33 merger notifications were handled in the 2015/16 financial year, a slight decrease from mergers handled in the previous year.
“Out of the 29 mergers finalised during the year, 18 were simple, while 11 were complex mergers,” CA said.
From these 29 finalised mergers, 26 were approved without conditions, and three with conditions, while no mergers were prohibited on the grounds of substantial lessening of competition and potential abuse of dominance.
According to the Authority, public interest concerns were addressed with appropriate remedies and conditions.
It added that the four remaining mergers will be carried over the next financial year.
In addition, the mergers handled by the Authority involved vast number of sectors, with many transactions handled over the years being in the retail sector.
“In 2012/13, many transactions were in the mining industry, which has seen a decline in the year under review, as the predominant sector is now retail,” it said.
The authority also handled 16 cases and completed three research studies on shopping malls, in-house brands and aviation, which were started in the last financial year. It said after conducting preliminary investigations, the Authority closed five cases after no infringements on the competition act were found.
“Three cases are still under investigation, while the other eight cases have not progressed beyond preliminary assessment as at 31st March 2016,” the CA added.
Furthermore, the Authority reported some accomplishments in research and investigations in the year under review, such as the lifting of barriers to entry in the supply of fly ash.
The competition noted that after conducting research in the cement industry in collaboration with Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia under the auspicies of the African Competition Forum, an exclusive agreement with regard to the supply of soda ash which is the main ingredient in the manufacturing of cement.
“Through the Authority’s intervention, the market was opened for greater competition by stopping exclusive dealing between the two parties,” the Authority said.
Furthermore, the Authority stated that three ongoing research projects carried out during the year are the nature and state of competition in the Botswana shopping mail retail property market (shopping malls), in house brands by retail chain stores in Botswana and competitive analysis of the aviation sector in Botswana.