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Merger parties need certainty on deal making, and the authorities should not harm the very interests they are required to protect and arguably promote.
For the first time in 20 years, a merger may be prohibited on public interest grounds alone. A ground-breaking recommendation by the Competition Commission (Commission) to the Competition Tribunal (Tribunal) to prohibit the proposed sale by Grand Parade Investments Limited (GPI) of its investment in Burger King (South Africa) to a US private equity firm will have severe consequences for the future of M&A transactions and investment into South Africa. The case also raises questions about whether competition law is the right tool to advance the country s transformation agenda.
On 1 June 2021, the Commission recommended that the transaction whereby ECP Africa, a private equity fund, proposed to acquire Burger King (South Africa) and Grand Foods Meat Plant (Pty) Ltd (Grand Foods) from GPI be prohibited. The Commission found that the merger would significantly reduce the shareholding of historically disadvantaged persons (HDP) in the target firm, from more than 68% to 0%.
Spur earnings undercooked due to Covid-19 restrictions
Trading Statement for the six months ended 31 December 2020
Shareholders are referred to the sales update released on SENS on 29 January 2021 in which the group advised that total franchised restaurant sales declined by 29.4% to R2.9bn for the six months to 31 December 2020 (“the reporting period”), against the R4.1bn reported for the six months to 31 December 2019 (the “prior comparative period”).
Ongoing Covid-19 pandemic lockdown trading restrictions, although at reducing levels in the first half of the reporting period, compounded by the second wave of the pandemic and the resultant implementation of revised level 3 restrictions in the key trading month of December 2020, curtailed franchised restaurant sales in the period. As expected, these restrictions, combined with weaker consumer disposable income, were the main contributors to the decline in total franchised restaurant sales.