Precedent-Setting Decision: Burger King Acquisition Prohibited Purely on Public Interest Grounds
![](https://www.pymnts.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Burger-e1625154514140.jpg)
By: Charl van der Merwe (African Antitrust)
The South African Competition Commission (SACC) made headlines with its first prohibition of an intermediate merger that was based solely on public-interest grounds.
Emerging Capital Partners (ECP), a private equity firm founded in the US, was to acquire all Burger King assets from South African Grand Parade Investments, a South African majority black owned entity.
The SACC, while finding that the proposed transaction will have no actual impact on competition, prohibited the transaction on the basis that the transaction will have a substantial negative effect on “the promotion of greater spread of ownership, in particular to increase the levels of ownership by historically disadvantaged persons” (HDPs).
The SACC found that the merger would lead to a 68% reduction in the shareholding of HDPs in the target entity.
As John Oxenham, director at Primerio points out, “public interest” considerations have long been a feature of competition law in South Africa, particularly in relation to merger control. In this regard, mergers, which may otherwise be deemed problematic, could be ‘justified’ on public interest grounds. Public interest, while initially limited to employment, was first informally expanded through notable mergers such as Walmart/Massmart (2011) and AB Inbev/SAB (2016) where public interest conditions were imposed related to empowerment and ownership, through agreement by the merging parties.
The Competition Amendment Act, which largely became effective in 2019, formally expanded the recognised public-interest factors contain in Section 12A(3) of the Competition Act to include the “promotion of a greater spread of ownership, in particular to increase the levels of ownership by historically disadvantaged persons and workers in firms in the market”. Further, the public-interest element was elevated to a separate and self-standing assessment, which must be assessed as an integral part of the merger assessment…
Featured News
Geradin Partners Expands Paris Office with Key Hire
Aug 30, 2024 by
CPI
Judge Accuses Google of ‘Clear Abuse’ in Antitrust Case Over Deleted Employee Chats
Aug 29, 2024 by
CPI
Hong Kong Cleaning Company Employee Charged in Historic Antitrust Investigation Case
Aug 29, 2024 by
CPI
Inside the Yelp Suit: Allegations of Google’s Abuse of Search Power
Aug 29, 2024 by
CPI
AI Safety Bill Clears Hurdle in California, Heads to Governor’s Desk
Aug 29, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – State Attorneys General
Aug 22, 2024 by
CPI
CPI Talks… …With Attorney General Phil Weiser
Aug 22, 2024 by
CPI
The Bipartisan Miracle of State Antitrust Enforcement
Aug 22, 2024 by
Gwendolyn J. Lindsay Cooley
Recent Developments in State Antitrust Enforcement: Agriculture and Food Markets
Aug 22, 2024 by
Elizabeth R. Odette
State Attorneys General: Stewards of Consumer Health and Welfare
Aug 22, 2024 by
Brooke Howlett Lovrovich