JSE
THEE
THEE - The Competition Commission - Press statement - Sasol penalty increased;
internal investigations confirm Competition Commission findings
The Competition Commission
PRESS STATEMENT
19 MAY 2009
Sasol penalty increased; internal investigations confirm Competition Commission
findings
On the eve of the hearing taking place tomorrow (20 May 2009) at the Competition
Tribunal, Sasol Chemical Industries Limited ("Sasol") has now admitted fully
that it has contravened Section 4(1)(b) of the Competition Act and has
identified additional related conduct that goes to the heart of the Commission`s
collusion case in the Nutri-Flo referral. This includes meetings of Sasol Nitro,
Omnia and Kynoch (now Yara) to fix prices and agree discounts. The Commission`s
approach to settlement is to incentivise timeous and full disclosure of conduct
as part of cooperation. This conduct has been revealed by Sasol extremely late
in the day. As a result, Sasol has agreed to pay a higher penalty, from 6% to 8%
of turnover of the Sasol Nitro Division. The amount they will pay has
consequently increased from R188 010 000 to R250 680 000.
"The Competition Commission hopes to encourage early and substantive
cooperation," said Commissioner Shan Ramburuth. "While it is commendable that
Sasol`s ongoing internal review has uncovered conduct substantiating our
findings, this conduct should have been uncovered when the Commission initiated
its investigation five years ago and certainly prior to the settlement agreement
signed earlier this month."
ENDS
Prepared by: FD Beachhead
Jennifer Cohen 011 214 2401/ 082 468 6469/ jennifer.cohen@fd.com
Dani Cohen 021 487 9021 / 082 897 0443 dani.cohen@fd.com
Senzi Dlamini 011 214 2420 / 073 494 0030 senzi.dlamini@fd.com
On behalf of: The Competition Commission
Further info:
Nandi Mokoena
Manager of Strategy and Stakeholder Relations, Competition Commission
012 394 3286 / 082 399 1328 / nandisilem@compcom.co.za
Keitumetse Letebele, HOD Communications
012 394 3183 / 082 783 3397 / keitumetsel@compcom.co.za
Date: 19/05/2009 14:00:01 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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