Investors beware — public-interest considerations in merger review are significant : the Burger King matter

Abstract

In South Africa, statutory competition law serves as a vehicle to address both traditional economic goals and broader social and political concerns. This is particularly apparent in the field of merger regulation, where public interests must be considered in the merger analysis. This note focuses on the so called Burger King merger, which was notified to the Competition Commission and initially prohibited. Notably, this marks the first time since the inception of the Competition Act 89 of 1998 that an intermediate merger has been prohibited solely on public interest grounds. However, the Tribunal subsequently cleared the merger, but only after the merging parties agreed to accept the onerous conditions imposed upon them.