The Bidvest Group Limited and Viamax (Pt

The judgment

The court's own file

COMPETITION TRIBUNAL OF SOUTH AFRICA Case No: 65/LM/Jun07 In the matter between: The Bidvest Group Ltd Acquiring Firm And Viamax (Pty) Ltd Target Firm Panel : D Lewis (Presiding Member), N Manoim (Tribunal Member) and Y Carrim (Tribunal Member) Heard on : 22 August 2007 Order issued on : 22 August 2007 Reasons issued on: 18 September 2007 Reasons for Decision Approval 1]On 22 August 2007, the Tribunal approved the merger between Bidvest Group Ltd and Viamax (Pty) Ltd. The reasons follow below. The Transaction 2]Bidvest Group Ltd (“Bidvest”) intends to acquire the entire issued share capital of Viamax (“Pty”) Ltd (“Viamax”), a fleet management service provider owned by Transnet Limited.1 Viamax owns two subsidiaries, Viamax Fleet Solutions (Pty) Ltd and Viamax Fleet Management (Pty) Ltd. 3]Bidvest is a public company listed on the JSE and has several subsidiaries worldwide. In South Africa Bidvest owns a fleet management company through McCarthy Fleet Services. 1 A five year exclusive contract with Transnet was included as part of the transaction 1 Rationale for the transaction 4]Transnet is currently disposing all the assets which it considers to be non­ core to its business activities, including Viamax. Bidvest, as a relative new entrant, wishes to gain a more competitive foothold in the South African fleet management services market and the acquisition of Viamax presents it with such an opportunity.2 The relevant market and the impact on competition 5]Both parties provide fleet management services to customers. These services include vehicle financing, vehicle maintenance, administration of vehicle licences and purchasing and sale of vehicles. The geographic market is national. 6]97% of Viamax’s fleet management services were provided to Transnet and the remaining 3% to municipalities. It could therefore be regarded as an in­ house service provider of Transnet which did not compete in the open market. Post the transaction the merged entity, with its market share of 12%, will compete more effectively with other participants in the market such as Imperial Fleet Services which has a market share of 20%, Avis Fleet Services with a market share of 17% and Debis with 20%, to name but a few. Subsequent to the expiry of the five year exclusive contract Transnet will again invite participants to tender for this contract. 7]In light of the above we find that the transaction would not substantially prevent or lessen competition the relevant markets but rather enhance competition. CONCLUSION 8]There are no significant public interest issues and we accordingly approve the transaction. 2 It entered this market during July 2005. 2 __________________ 18 September 2007 N Manoim Date D Lewis and Y Carrim concurring Tribunal Researcher: R Badenhorst For the merging parties:Bowman Gilfillan Attorneys For the Commission: Makgale Mohlala and David Masilela 3