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Labat may buy Altech`s Africard

By Iain Scott, ITWeb group consulting editor
Johannesburg, 15 Jan 2004

Labat Africa may acquire Altech`s Africard business, depending on whether the Competition Tribunal approves Altech`s R560 million NamITech purchase.

The Competition Commission, which initially recommended that Altech`s merger with NamITech be blocked, said last week that it had revised its assessment and now recommended that its higher authority, the Competition Tribunal, approve the deal.

The Competition Tribunal is the final arbiter on mergers, before the Appeals Court.

The Competition Commission originally recommended against the purchase last year because the deal would remove an effective competitor from the market and create significant competition concerns in both horizontal (competitor) and vertical (supply chain) relationships.

The tribunal`s hearing on the deal ends tomorrow.

Labat says the outcome of its talks with Altech depends on the outcome of the tribunal`s hearing.

If the Altech-NamITech merger is approved, Labat will enter into detailed talks about its proposed purchase of the card-manufacturing portion of Africard.

The proposed deal would exclude Africard`s card personalisation activities, it says, adding that this deal would itself be subject to approval by the competition authorities.

Related stories:
NamITech, Altech merger gets commission recommendation
Altech `surprised` at NamITech recommendation
Altech, NamITech merger blocked
Altech to buy NamITech for R560m

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