Africa-Press – Eswatini. The Eswatini Competition Commission (ESCC) has approved the acquisition by the Industrial Development Company of Eswatini (IDCE) of 55 per cent shareholding in Pigg’s Peak Plaza from Leadenhall Investments (Pty) Ltd.
This is according to the commission’s merger decisions for the second quarter of 2022/23 report. The acquiring firm is IDCE, a development finance company that is incorporated and registered under the company laws of Eswatini with its principal place of business situated on the 5th Floor Dlanubeka Building, Mbabane. IDCE, formerly known as Swaziland Industrial Development Company (SIDC), was formed in 1986 through a joint venture between the Government of Eswatini and five major international finance institutions namely DEG (Germany), CDC of the United Kingdom, FMO of the Netherlands, PROPARCO of France and IFC (World Bank).
varied
The target firm, Pigg’s Peak Plaza is a company registered and incorporated in terms of the company laws of Eswatini. The company developed Pigg’s Peak Plaza, which provides leasing space to varied tenants from retail, service providers, supermarkets, and a filling station. According to the report, the commission considered the products of the parties and concluded that the relevant market is the provision of commercial space in Pigg’s Peak Plaza. In its analysis, the commission considered the activities of the merging parties and found that there were overlaps since the acquiring firm was already a minority shareholder in Pigg’s Peak Plaza. However, the transaction is categorised as a phase I merger because the merging firms’ combined market share in the relevant market is below 15 per cent. Post-merger, the market shares in the relevant market and market concentration will not be altered such that the structure of the market will remain unchanged.
substantial
Countervailing power and barriers to entry will not be affected, therefore, the transaction is unlikely to result in the substantial lessening or prevention of competition. In its decision, the commission approved the transaction without conditions. Other mergers approved by the commission include the acquisition by CONCO Limited of immovable property held by Eureka trading (Pty), whereby the acquiring firm is CONCO, a company registered and incorporated in accordance with the company laws of Eswatini and is presently in the business of producing and supplying soft drinks concentrate to over 60 bottling companies, in over 20 countries in Africa. The target asset is immovable property held by Eureka. The immovable property is described as industrial land, Portion 6 of Lot No.478 situated in Matsapha, Manzini District. Eureka is a property holding company registered and incorporated in accordance with the company laws of Eswatini.
relevant
The commission considered the products of these firms and concluded that the relevant market was industrial land in Matsapha. In its analysis, the commission considered the activities of the merging parties and found that there were product overlaps in the relevant market. In the analysis, the Commission took into consideration the immovable property, which CONCO is already operating from and the market share of the immovable property. Consequently, the market accretion for CONCO will be 1.67 per cent. As such, the transaction is categorised as a phase II merger, since the market accretion is trivial. Post-merger, the market shares in the relevant market and market concentration will not be altered such that the structure of the market will remain unchanged.
substantial
Countervailing power and barriers to entry will not be affected, hence the transaction is unlikely to result in the substantial lessening or prevention of competition. The commission approved the transaction without conditions. The commission also approved the acquisition by Inyatsi Group Holdings Proprietary Limited of 100 per cent issued share capital in Eswatini Meat Industries Limited (EMI). The commission approved the transaction without conditions. The commission further approved the acquisition of 40 per cent shareholding in SNG Grant Thornton (advisory) Eswatini by SNG Grant Thornton Africa. The commission approved the transaction without conditions.
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