Competition Appeal Court Judge Dennis Davis raised concern about opening the floodgates for parties wanting to sidestep the competition authorities if the court granted the declaratory order sought by Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI). On Monday, the court heard an urgent application brought by HCI for an order that its proposed plan to merge its gaming interests did not require approval from the competition authorities. The application is unprecedented and has drastic implications for the competition authorities. "It would mean that any time anyone wanted to do a transaction, they will come to us first; we’ll be flooded," said Judge Davis during the court hearing on Monday. David Unterhalter, counsel for HCI, said it would not open the floodgates because it was such an unusual transaction. The legal battle around the involvement of the competition authorities has created uncertainty about the future of the proposed transaction, which involves merging the gaming interests held b...
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