Altech Autopage's proposed R1.5 billion sale of its subscriber bases to MTN, Vodacom and Cell C has been referred back to the Competition Commission by the Competition Tribunal.
Last week the Commission recommended that the deal be approved without conditions, but highlighted "certain employment related undertakings given by the merging parties". The Tribunal however believes further investigation is needed. This after "certain concerns were raised in relation to the proposed transaction by Saicon Holdings (Pty) Ltd".
"It became clear during the hearing that the Competition Commission had not spoken to certain clusters of customers that may be affected by the proposed deal," the Tribunal said in a statement.
The Commission will investigate whether there was prior implementation of the transaction, as alleged by Saicon.
The Commission will now have to submit a supplementary report to the Tribunal on 29 January next year with its findings and a hearing with all the parties is set down for 9 February, 2016.
"The Competition Commission was specifically asked to determine whether the issues to be investigated will have any bearings on Cell C. Based on their findings, a separate hearing could be set aside [with] Cell C prior to 9 February, 2016."
In September, Altech's parent company Altron confirmed it would sell the Autopage subscriber base to MTN, Vodacom and Cell C for approximately R1 467 million plus VAT. On 2 December, Alton confirmed 99.99% of shareholders voted for the disposal of Autopage's subscribers at the JSE-listed firm's annual general meeting.
Altron says the sale will help to reduce the overall debt of the group and restore cash to the company's balance sheet.
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