Namibian Competition Commission Appeals For Wal-Mart Conditions
June 02 2011 - 4:05AM
Dow Jones News
The Namibian Competition Commission said late Wednesday it has
lodged an appeal with the Namibian High Court to overturn a
previous decision not to enforce conditions on Wal-Mart Stores
Inc.'s (WMT) merger with South African retailer Massmart Holdings
Ltd. (MSM.JO).
"The Commission has lodged an appeal against the judgment on
June 1, 2011. The Commission has regard that this matter has gained
national prominence and would want to inform the public that the
appeal is now before the court," the Competition Commission said in
a statement.
The High Court of Namibia ruled in April that conditions imposed
by the Commission on the merging retailers were not valid.
On Tuesday, South Africa's Competition Tribunal approved the
proposed $2.4 billion merger that will allow Wal-Mart to acquire a
51% stake in Massmart. The South African Tribunal did place some
conditions on the deal which had been volunteered by the merging
parties previously and focused on labor union agreement promises
and a firing freeze for two years.
Wal-Mart said the deal should close in the coming weeks.
-By Devon Maylie, Dow Jones Newswires; +27 (11) 783 7848;
devon.maylie@dowjones.com