Approval
[1].
On 18 April 2007 the Competition Tribunal issued a Merger Clearance Certificate approving the merger between
Standard Bank Private Equity, A Division of the Standard Bank Ltd (“Standard Bank”) and DairyBelle, a division of Tiger
Food Brands Ltd (“DairyBelle”) unconditionally. The reasons appear below.
Parties
[2].
The acquiring firm is Standard Bank Private Equity, A Division of the Standard Bank Ltd (“Standard Bank”) Ltd. Standard Bank is a public company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The acquiring firm is controlled by Standard Bank Group Ltd. For a list of Standard Bank subsidiaries see pages 521-523 of the record.
[3].
The target firm is DairyBelle, a division of Tiger Food Brands Ltd (“DairyBelle”). For a list of Tiger Brands subsidiaries see pages 7-9 of the record.
Transaction
[4].
In terms of the proposed transaction, Standard Bank intends to acquire the entire issued share capital of DairyBelle as a going concern.
Standard Bank also intends to acquire the trade marks relating to DairyBelle business from Tiger Food Intellectual Property Holding
Company (“Tiger IP”). After the implementation of the proposed transaction Standard Bank will control the business and
the trade marks of DairyBelle as a going concern.
Rationale for the Transaction
[5].
For Standard Bank this represents an investment opportunity whilst we were advised by Tiger at the hearing
that it had decided to sell as they considered the dairy business as a cyclical one which does not fit into their core strategic
focus.
Activities of the Parties
[6].
The acquiring firm and its subsidiaries offer a wide range of wholesale and retail banking and related financial
services throughout the Republic of South Africa. The merging parties have submitted in their filing that the principal service of
the acquiring firm comprise inter alia, retail banking, consumer credit, corporate and investment banking and investment banking and investment management and life insurance
services. DairyBelle is involved in the manufacturing, distribution and marketing of dairy, dairy related and fruit juice products
such as cheese, butter, yoghurt and milk.
Competition Analysis
[7].
An examination of the proposed transaction by the Commission showed that there is no horizontal overlap in the
activities of the merging firms. We agree with this conclusion and as result the merger raises no concerns.
Public Interest
[8].
There are no public interest issues.
Conclusion
[9].
Based on the above the transaction will not result in a substantial lessening or prevention of competition in the identified markets
and is accordingly approved unconditionally.
___________________
19 April 2007
N. Manoim
Date
Tribunal Member
Y Carrim and M Madlanga concurring.
Tribunal Researcher
: J Ngobeni
For the merging parties
: Natalia Lopes (Edward Nathan Sonnenberg Inc)
For the Commission
: Edwina Ramohlola (Mergers
and Acquisitions)
SAFLII:
|
Terms of Use
|
Feedback
URL: http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACT/2007/26.html
.RTF of original document