Nedbank has been ordered to cough up a R2 million penalty for implementing a transaction before competition authorities approved the deal, the Competition Tribunal said on Thursday.
In a statement, the authority said a consent agreement had been reached between the Competition Commission, Nedbank and Erf 7, which owns Sandown Village Office Park – some 17 300 square metres of A-grade rentable office space in Sandton.
An investigation by the commission found that Nedbank Property Partners, a Division of Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking, effectively acquired sole control of Erf 7 in August 2017. This constituted a merger and was notifiable in terms of the Competition Act, it said.
But, it added, the transaction was completed without prior approval from competition authorities.
Nedbank and Erf 7 voluntarily disclosed the transaction and accepted the penalty, according to the tribunal.
“Following the voluntary disclosure made by Nedbank and Erf 7, the commission assessed the large merger and recommended to the tribunal that the transaction be unconditionally approved. The tribunal approved the large merger without conditions,” it said.
While “Nedbank and Erf 7 accept that they are jointly and severally liable” to pay an administrative penalty, one will pay and the other will be absolved, the tribunal said. Nedbank will pay the penalty, which totals R2 million.
Nedbank and Erf 7 also undertook to notify the commission of any future transactions that would constitute a notifiable merger, and not implement notifiable mergers unlawfully.
They must give the commission a copy of their competition law compliance programme.
Source: News 24
