Namibia Competition Commission fines Choppies Supermarket for unapproved merger

NAMIBIA – The Namibia Competition Commission (NaCC) has fined Choppies Supermarket Namibia Pty Ltd N$2.2 million (US$143,000) for implementing a merger without its approval.

According to an investigation by NaCC, Choppies entered into a settlement agreement with Johannes Jacobus De Jager, trading as Grootfontein Supermarket and Grootfontein Bottle Store, amounting to a merger without prior approval.

The Commission further noted that although the merger did not hurt competition due to the existing concentration in the town of Grootfontein at the time of the transaction and the parties operating in the market of selling goods to consumers that generally have a short shelf life, in relatively small quantities for use or consumption rather than resale, the transaction breached the notification thresholds set by the Competition Act.

“The merger falls within the prescribed notification thresholds, and the parties failed to notify the Commission, as required in terms of Section 44 of the Act,” said Dina //Gowases, the NaCC corporate communications practitioner.

Choppies and Grootfontein Supermarket and Grootfontein Bottle Store entered into a memorandum of agreement on 12 May 2022 and 19 May 2022.

NaCC and Choppies have agreed to settle the matter and entered into a settlement agreement, where they agreed to pay a pecuniary penalty for the fine and implement a compliance programme on competition law in Namibia.

//Gowases said investigations by NaCC of mergers implemented without prior approval are not a mere punitive exercise, but a realization of the Commission’s mandate to ensure fair market competition for inclusive growth and development.

She added that the settlement agreement entered between Choppies and the Commission was made following a court ruling by the High Court on 19 November 2024, in favour of NaCC.

The Commission underscored that all mergers above the monetary thresholds should be notified to them to ensure the fulfillment of its mandate of inclusive growth, development, protection of consumer rights, and opportunities.

It is also mandated to preserve the general welfare of the competitive landscape and prevent market structures that are conducive to anti-competitive conduct from developing.

//Gowases explained that competition enforcement and merger regulation establish a system of preventive control against increases in market power.

This is to prevent market structures that are conducive to anti-competitive conduct from developing, and the assessment of mergers enables the Commission to implement such a preventative control system prior to the implementation of a transaction.

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