Sefalana withdraws lawsuit against CA, Choppies

OARABILE MOSIKARE
Staff Writer | Friday May 10, 2013 00:00

 

The acquisition is expected to take Choppies' mass grocery retail market share beyond 30 percent, a statutory figure for caution according to the Competition Act. Sefalana had appealed the decision of the Competition Authority in the High Court saying it should be reviewed because the authority acted on wrong information. Sefalana believed they made a good offer for the deal and wanted the court to force the authority to review its decision. But yesterday the CA received correspondence from the High Court to the effect that the plaintiff has withdrawn the matter. Justice Tshepo Motswagole was expected to preside over the case. Since 2011, SupaSave has been in financial distress and ran the risk of bankruptcy.'They then tried to find buyers and there were three bidders, including Choppies, whom they felt had a better deal. If SupaSave had not received any rescuers, it would have failed together with the 300 or so workers it employs and we took this into account,' the authority's acting CEO, Magdeline Gabaraane was quoted as saying at the time of the approval of the acquisition.

Revelations that Sefalana was one of the bidders confirmed market speculation that the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) listed group wished to use SupaSave to expand its Shoppers' retail chain across the country. Shoppers is a retail grocery brand housed under Sefalana's Sefcash subsidiary. Shoppers has 13 outlets around the country and plans to set up at least five more  per year for the next five years, challenging the dynamics in the country's cut-throat grocery retail sector.Efforts to reach CA communications and advocacy director, Gideon Nkala proved futile at the time of going to press.