Competition Tribunal to Decide Fate of SABC-MultiChoice Merger Allegations
The Competition Commission deems a 2013 SABC-MultiChoice agreement a notifiable merger. MultiChoice disputes the claim before the Competition Tribunal, seeking dismissal of the Commission’s findings.
Caxton and CTP Publishers and Printers Limited, the S.O.S Support Public Broadcasting Coalition and the Media Monitoring Project Benefit Trust (“the applicants”) allege that a channel distribution agreement concluded in 2013 between the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SOC) Ltd (“SABC”) and MultiChoice (Pty) Ltd (“MultiChoice”) constituted a notifiable merger – and that the SABC and MultiChoice had contravened the Competition Act by not notifying the Competition Commission (“Commission”) of this merger .
Following proceedings in the Competition Tribunal (“Tribunal”), the Competition Appeal Court and the Constitutional Court, the Commission has found that the channel distribution agreement did constitute a notifiable merger i.e. the agreement enabled MultiChoice to influence the strategic direction of the SABC. The Commission filed a report with the Tribunal seeking confirmation that the agreement constitutes a merger.
The Tribunal will now hear an exception application brought by Multichoice. Multichoice seeks the following order:
- A declaration that the facts presented by the Commission and the applicants do not constitute a merger as defined under section 12(2)(g) of the Competition Act; and
- The dismissal of the main application.
