COMPETITION TRIBUNAL OF SOUTH AFRICA

 Case No: 65/LM/Jun07

In the matter between:

The Bidvest Group Ltd	                                               Acquiring Firm

And

Viamax (Pty) Ltd						Target Firm

Panel	:	D Lewis (Presiding Member), N Manoim (Tribunal
Member) and 	Y Carrim (Tribunal Member)
Heard on		:	22 August 2007
Order issued on	:	22 August 2007
Reasons issued on	:	18 September 2007

Reasons for Decision

Approval

[1]	On 22 August 2007, the Tribunal approved the merger between Bidvest Group Ltd and Viamax (Pty) Ltd. The reasons follow below.

The Transaction
[2]	Bidvest Group Ltd (“Bidvest”) intends to acquire the entire issued share capital of Viamax (“Pty”) Ltd (“Viamax”), a fleet management service provider owned by Transnet Limited.  Viamax owns two subsidiaries, Viamax Fleet Solutions (Pty) Ltd and Viamax Fleet Management (Pty) Ltd.
 
[3]	Bidvest is a public company listed on the JSE and has several subsidiaries worldwide. In South Africa Bidvest owns a fleet management company through McCarthy Fleet Services.   

Rationale for the transaction
[4]	Transnet is currently disposing all the assets which it considers to be non-core to its business activities, including Viamax. Bidvest, as a relative new entrant, wishes to gain a more competitive foothold in the South African fleet management services market and the acquisition of Viamax presents it with such an opportunity.  

The relevant market and the impact on competition
[5]	Both parties provide fleet management services to customers. These services include vehicle financing, vehicle maintenance, administration of vehicle licences and purchasing and sale of vehicles. The geographic market is national. 

[6]	97% of Viamax’s fleet management services were provided to Transnet and the remaining 3% to municipalities. It could therefore be regarded as an in-house service provider of Transnet which did not compete in the open market. Post the transaction the merged entity, with its market share of 12%, will compete more effectively with other participants in the market such as Imperial Fleet Services which has a market share of 20%, Avis Fleet Services with a market share of 17% and Debis with 20%, to name but a few. Subsequent to the expiry of the five year exclusive contract Transnet will again invite participants to tender for this contract. 

[7]	In light of the above we find that the transaction would not substantially prevent or lessen competition the relevant markets but rather enhance competition.

CONCLUSION
[8]	There are no significant public interest issues and we accordingly approve the transaction.

__________________				                    18 September 2007
N Manoim 						                         Date

D Lewis and Y Carrim concurring

Tribunal Researcher: 		R Badenhorst
For the merging parties:	Bowman Gilfillan Attorneys
For the Commission:	Makgale Mohlala and David Masilela