Johannesburg - The Competition Tribunal on Friday approved a large merger in which the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and Business Venture Investments acquired Sub-Saharan Industrial Holdings (SSIH), a company that provides transport and logistics services in the road and rail sectors.
The deal will see Business Venture and PIC, Africa’s largest fund manager, acquire a 75 percent shareholding in SSIH. Post-merger, PIC will have a 10 percent interest in the company, while Business Venture will acquire 65 percent.
The companies did not disclose the value of the transaction, saying it was confidential.
In a statement read by its representative during the brief public hearing on Friday, the commission said the tribunal should approve the transaction without conditions. It said the deal was unlikely to prevent or lessen competition. There was no overlap in the activities of the merging companies, the commission added.
The PIC represents the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), which, according to its website, invests in four main asset classes - equities, fixed income, properties and the Isibaya Fund. The Isibaya Fund invests in black economic empowerment and infrastructure development projects.
The commission said the GEPF had an investment in a transport and logistics company called RTT Holdings.
In a statement shortly after the hearing on the transaction yesterday, the tribunal said: “While PIC has a holding in RTT, which provides courier services, the Competition Commission found that RTT’s services were not substitutable for services provided by SSIH. SSIH is involved in the rebuilding, repairing and maintenance of rail equipment and the transportation of hot and cold asphalt for roads.”
The companies have not made public the rationale of the transaction. Responding to tribunal chairman Norman Manoim, PIC’s legal representatives confirmed that the rationale for the transaction was not confidential. Attempts to get comment from the PIC on Friday were unsuccessful.
Business Venture, which is a new company, is controlled by Banzai Trade and Invest 17 and the PIC. According to the tribunal’s statement, Protus Sokhela Trust controls Banzi.
The companies did not disclose the value of the transaction, saying it was confidential.
BUSINESS REPORT