Three South African government departments are seeking a review of the Competition Tribunal’s decision to approve Wal-Mart Stores’ acquisition of a majority stake in local retailer Massmart.
The Minister of Economic Development, the Minister of Trade and Industry and the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries yesterday (20 July) filed a petition with the tribunal.
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At the end of May, the tribunal gave Wal-Mart the green light to acquire a 51% stake in Massmart in a deal valued at US$2.3bn.
The decision faced opposition from local trade unions and from some parts of the South African government for not offering binding commitments like procurement, safeguards for small businesses and black economic development.
The three departments are seeking a reveiew of the deal, citing “irregularities” in the decision-making process.
The filing claims that the tribunal erred in failing to order the merging parties to give the other parties involved in the decision all of the information they sought. The departments also claim the tribunal precluded parties that opposed the merger from “fully and properly ventilating their concerns and their submbissions”.
The three departments contend that the merger hearing was “unfair and not in accordance with the principles of natural justice”, that it was procedurally unfair, that it took into account irrelevant material and “failed to take account of relevant considerations”.
