| Mon 22 Nov 2010, 15:49 | | THEE - The Competion Commision - Notice of upcoming competition tribunal |
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JSE
THEE
THEE - The Competion Commision - Notice of upcoming competition tribunal
hearings
NOTICE OF UPCOMING COMPETITION TRIBUNAL HEARINGS
(Following is a guideline for journalists. The information can be used but
please do not quote Nandi Mokoena or the Tribunal)
Case(s) 1 Settlement agreement between Competition Commission and
Pioneer Foods (Pty) Ltd
2 Settlement agreement between Competition Commission and
Swan Plastics CC
3 Proposed large merger between Standard Bank Group and
Credit Suisse Standard Bank Securities
Date Wednesday, 24 November 2010
Time 10H00
Place The dti Campus
77 Meintjies Street
Mulayo Building, (Block C)
Sunnyside, Pretoria
Tel: +27 (0) 12 394 3300
Fax: 27 (0) 12 394 0169
Website: http://www.comptrib.co.za
1 Tribunal to hear settlement between Commission and Pioneer
On Wednesday the Competition Commission and Pioneer Foods will ask the Tribunal
to confirm the settlement they reached on 2 November 2010 as an order of the
Tribunal. The agreement purports to settle eight separate investigations the
Commission had undertaken involving alleged contraventions of the Competition
Act. Although other firms are alleged to have been involved in some of the
activities, the present settlement is only with Pioneer. In respect of some of
these investigations Pioneer was granted conditional leniency. The
investigations involved the maize and wheat milling industries, baking, poultry
and eggs. Conduct ranges from collusion, unlawful information sharing and
predatory pricing.
As part of the settlement Pioneer agreed, amongst other things, to pay R250
million to the National Revenue Fund as an administrative penalty; pay R250
million to create an Agro-processing Competitiveness Fund which aims to promote
competitiveness, employment and growth in food value chains and to adjust its
pricing of flour and bread such as to reduce its gross margin. The total
settlement will be payable over a two year period.
Settlement agreements require the approval of the Tribunal to be enforceable.
Pioneer and the Commission will make submissions to the Tribunal in support of
the settlement this Wednesday. Several other parties have indicated to the
Tribunal that they wish to make submissions at the hearing. They include Imraahn
Ismail-Mukaddam, the Black Sash and the National Treasury. These submissions
will be made public on the morning of the hearing.
In February 2010 the Tribunal imposed a fine of R195,7 million on Pioneer in
respect of cartel activities in the bread industry. The present settlement
agreement excludes this amount.
2 Settlement in the plastic pipes cartel
Also on Wednesday the Tribunal will consider a settlement agreement between the
Commission and Swan Plastics.
Swan Plastics manufactures plastic pipes used in the plumbing, civil and
agricultural sectors and was accused by the Commission, along with seven others,
of price fixing, tender rigging and dividing markets by allocating contracts and
customers. At the time DPI Plastics, also a plastic pipe manufacturer, assisted
the Commission to conclude its investigation by providing evidence of the
collusion in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Since the Commission
referred its case to the Tribunal, in February 2009, the Tribunal has confirmed
two settlement agreements - with Marley Pipe Systems and Flo-Tek pipes. In these
settlements, both Marley and Flo-Tek admitted they had contravened the
Competition Act and agreed to pay penalties of around R31 million and R5 million
respectively, being 6% of their turnovers for 2007.
In the settlement agreement which the Tribunal will hear this Wednesday Swan
Plastics admits that it contravened the Competition Act. It also agrees to pay a
R7 million penalty, being 6% of its turnover for 2007. In addition to this, Swan
Plastics undertakes to cooperate with the Commission`s prosecution of any other
respondents in the case and to implement compliance programmes designed to
ensure that its employees do not engage in such contraventions in future.
The Tribunal is presently hearing a matter, which is part heard, against five
other respondents which the Commission alleges were part of the same cartel.
Some of these firms are contesting whether they were part of the alleged cartel,
whilst others are contesting the extent of their involvement. That case will
continue in January 2011.
3 Proposed large merger between Standard Bank Group (SBG) and Credit Suisse
Standard Bank Securities (CSSS)
In this transaction Credit Suisse will exit as a shareholder of CSSS and SBG
will acquire 50% of the issued ordinary share capital of CSSS from Credit
Suisse. CSSS is an institutional stock brokerage business and SBG is a financial
services group.
The Competition Commission assessed the proposed merger and has recommended that
the Tribunal approve it without conditions.
Issued By:
Nandi Mokoena
PR Consultant: Competition Tribunal
Cell: +27 (0) 82 399 1328
E-mail: NandisileM@live.co.za
On Behalf Of:
Lerato Motaung
Registrar: Competition Tribunal
Tel: (012) 394 3355
Cell: +27 (0) 82 556 3221
E-Mail: LeratoM@comptrib.co.za
Date: 22/11/2010 15:49:01 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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