By: Nghiinomenwa-vali Hangala
The country’s competition watchdog, the Namibia Competition Commission, has approved 15 mergers and acquisitions, with some between local companies and some involving international companies.
Out of the 15 mergers and acquisitions approved, three were approved with conditions, while the rest were approved without certain conditions attached.
According to the announcement, the approvals were made at the recent meetings by the Board of Commissioners.
In exercising its mandate in terms of Chapter 4 of the Competition Act, the Board considered a range of notified merger transactions across multiple sectors of the Namibian economy.
The announcement revealed that each transaction was assessed in respect of its potential impact on competition, market structure, consumers, and public interest considerations.
Including employment, participation of historically disadvantaged persons, and the ability of small and medium undertakings to compete effectively.
The three mergers approved with conditions involve Mediclinic Windhoek (Pty) Ltd & Mediclinic (Windhoek) Properties (Pty) Ltd/Treeside Medical Suites CC & Related Assets.
The Board imposed a three-year moratorium on merger-specific retrenchments, maintenance of employment conditions, and detailed reporting obligations.
Murrelets Investments (Pty) Ltd / Novaship Namibia (Pty) Ltd forms part of the approved mergers.
The acquisition, approved with conditions, is NASAN Energies (Pty) Ltd / Divestiture Business of Vivo Energy Namibia Ltd & Engen Namibia (Pty) Ltd.
According to the Commission, this acquisition raised both competition and public interest concerns in the downstream fuel sector.
Although the merger promoted local ownership and participation by historically disadvantaged persons, it also posed risks of coordinated conduct due to upstream supply relationships, the Commission wrote.
To mitigate these risks, the Commission imposed comprehensive conditions, including: a five-year prohibition on sourcing petroleum products from Vitol and its affiliates and anticircumvention safeguards.
Moreover, they will be required to meet mandatory disclosure, monitoring, and reporting obligations.
“These conditions were imposed to preserve competitive outcomes while advancing Namibia’s broader economic transformation objectives,” the Commission wrote.
The 12 mergers and acquisitions that were approved without conditions include Wernhil Park (Pty) Ltd, Klein Windhoek and Associated Letting Business.
IJG Securities Money Market Trust / Letshego Bank (Namibia) Ltd, and the sale and acquisition of the total shareholding in Grove Mall of Namibia (Pty) Ltd by Gold View Investments (Pty) Ltd.
The Commission’s comments on approving the sale stated that the acquiring group’s ownership structure and its activities are primarily investment-based and outside Namibia.
The target undertaking operates the Grove Mall in Windhoek and derives income from rental and long-term property appreciation.
And since the acquiring group is not active in Namibia and the parties operate in different relevant markets, the transaction was assessed as a conglomerate merger.
The Commission found “the merger unlikely to prevent or substantially lessen competition, with no negative employment or other public-interest concerns”.
All merger transactions meeting merger thresholds are required to be notified for assessment of possible market effects and clearance by the Commission, before implementation.
The Commission explained that this has the benefit of protecting consumers from potential abuses that can result from market dominance.
Specifically, the merger assessments aim at ensuring that merging firms will not have the ability to raise prices, reduce quantity and/or quality, and reduce the range of customer service post-merger.
