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competitiontribunal

SOUTH AFRICA

COMPETITION TRIBUNAL OF SOUTH AFRICA

Case No: LM1270ct19

In the matter between:

Investec Asset Management SA Group Limited and                     Primary Acquiring Firm

Investec Management Asset Management UK Group PLC

And

Investec Asset Management Holding (Pty) Ltd and                           Primary Target Firm

Investec Asset Management Limited

 

Panel: E Daniels (Presiding Member)

: Y Carrim (Tribunal Member)

: A Ndoni (Tribunal Member)

Heard on: 27 November 2019

Order issued on: 27 November 2019

Reasons issued on: 09 January 2020

 

REASONS FOR DECISION

 

Approval

[1] On 27 November 2019, the Competition Tribunal ("Tribunal") approved the large merger between Investec Asset Management SA Group Limited and Investec Asset Management UK Group Pie and Investec Asset Management Holdings (Pty) Ltd and Investec Asset Management Limited.

[2] The reasons for the unconditional approval follow.

 

PARTIES TO THE TRANSACTION

 

Primary Acquiring Firm

[3] The primary acquiring firms are Investec Asset Management SA Group Limited ("IAM SA ListCo") and Invest Asset Management UK Group Pie ("IAM UK ListCo"). These companies are incorporated in accordance with the company laws of the Republic of South Africa ("South Africa") and the United Kingdom ("UK"), respectively.[1]

[4] 1AM SA ListCo and 1AM UK ListCo operate as one corporate group through a dual listed company (DLC) arrangement. Collectively, they are referred to as 1AM DLC.IAM DLC does not have prior operations or business activities.

 

Primary Target Firm

[5] The primary target firms are Investec Asset Management Holdings (Pty) Ltd ("IAM SA") and Investec Asset Management Limited ("IAM UK"). These companies are incorporated in accordance with the company laws of South Africa and UK, respectively.

[6] 1AM is active in the provision of active investment products and services to institutional and advisor clients. 1AM investment offering includes equities, fixed income, multi asset management and alternatives strategies.

 

PROPOSED TRANSACTION

[7] The proposed transaction is the demerger of 1AM from the Investec Group. The transaction comprises a restructuring of the asset management service from the Investec Group to newly established entities that will be independently li5ted on the JSE and LSE.

 

COMPETITION ANALYSIS

[8] The Commission considered the activities of the merging parties and found that proposed transaction does not result in a horizontal or vertical overlap as the merging parties do not provide services that are substitutable or considered to be inputs to each other. The proposed transaction will not change the structure of the relevant market and as such, the Tribunal is of the view that the proposed transaction is unlikely to prevent or lessen competition.

 

PUBLIC INTEREST

[9] The merging parties confirmed that the proposed transaction would not have any adverse effects on employment in South Africa. The employees of 1AM raised no concerns with the transaction. The transaction raises no other public interest concerns.

 

CONCLUSION

[10] In light of the above, we approved the transaction subject to no conditions.

 

09 January 2020

Date

 

Mr Enver Daniels

Ms Yasmin Carrim and Ms Andiswa Ndoni

 

Tribunal Case Manager      : Lumkisa Jordaan

For the merging parties       : Mark Garden and Tayla Theron of ENSafrica

For the Commission            : Nonhlanhla Msiza and Mogau Aphane

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