EDITORIAL: Vodacom-Maziv proposal shows tribunal up
Do the competition authorities want companies, especially large companies, to do deals at all?
First, the competition authorities ruled that public interest could trump competition issues in scrutinising mergers. Now it seems even public interest commitments aren’t enough. One can’t help wondering at this point whether the competition authorities want companies, especially large companies, to do deals at all.
The Competition Tribunal last week finally published its reasons for prohibiting the Vodacom-Maziv merger. Late last year it had upheld the Competition Commission’s recommendation to prohibit it, but hadn’t provided reasons. Now, in a nutshell, its explanation is that even though the merging parties undertook to invest billions over the next five years on expanding access to fibre, particularly in low income areas, all that would happen without the merger...
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