By Jannes van der Merwe
The Commission has undertaken a significant number of developments in the past few months, in order to increase its activity and enforcement as well as advocacy work. Most notably, the Commission has contributed to the Protocol on Competition Policy under the African Continental Free Trade Area; hosted Professor Alan Fels for three days helping the Commission with capacity building where he shared his experiences and discussed how to better enforce the law and challenges faced by the Commission; hosted Professor Pierre Régibeau to lecture, contribute and advise the Commission on various topics such as merger control, abuse of dominance, IP and competition law; the commission has been elected as the Chair of the African Competition Forum; and the Commission has been appointed as the Co-Chair of the International Competition Network Merger. Working Group, attending to educational outreaches, all while managing the competition activities within Mauritius. [1]
The Commission has made headway on several critical investigations within the Mauritian economy.
- The Executive Director has completed its investigation in the merger of two major suppliers of snacks and drink through automated vending machines and has submitted the report for the Commission’s decision.[2]
- The Commission completed its ports market study, led by John Davies.[3]
- The Commission is continuing its investigation into possible cartel conduct with Third-Party Liability on Contractor’s All Risk Insurance.[4]
- The Commission is continuing its investigation into a possible cartel, price-fixing the wholesale markup of pharmaceutical products.[5]
- The Commission is investigating possible anti-competitive behaviour by TNS Tobacco, an importer and distributor of British American Tobacco’s brands.[6]
Completed Market Investigations
Acquisition of Engen Ltd by Vivo Group:
After the acquisition by Vivo Energy of the shares held by Engen Holding in different Engen entities in several countries, including Zimbabwe, Zambia, Gabon, Rwanda, Mozambique and other African countries in recent times, Vivo Energy turned its eyes to South Africa.
This in turn, caused the Commission to commence an investigation into the possible competition concerns the transaction between Vivo Energy and Engen Limited (South Africa) in South Africa could raise in the Mauritius’ fuel market. The Commission’s investigation found that the transaction in South Africa raises competition concerns as Engen Limited owns and operates Engen Petroleum Limited in Mauritius, while Vivo Energy competes in the Mauritius Fuel Market through its vertical integration.
The transaction that the commission then had to consider entailed the acquisition of Engen Limited (“Engen Mauritius”) by Vitol Emerald Bidco (PTY) Ltd, who is controlled by Vitol Holdings through Vitol Africa B.V. Vitol Holding proposed to transfer Vitol Emerald Bidco to Vivo Energy Emerald Holding B.V, who is part of Vivo Energy Limited.
Vivo Energy Limited has stakes in Vivo Energy Mauritius who trades under the name of Shell, a competitor to Engen Mauritius. The commission’s concern with all of the above was that effectively, the Mauritian fuel market will be transformed from 4 dominant players to 3.
This resulted in the parties’ providing undertakings to the Commission to ensure that the fuel market in Mauritius remains competitive, which the Commission accepted as the conditions to the agreement. [7]
The parties agreed that a separate divestment business will acquire Engen Mauritius, subject to the terms as per the merging parties’ undertakings which include the majority of Engen Mauritius’ business, excluding 7 filing stations and various contracts related to the commercial operation between Engen and Vivo Group.[8]
Footnotes:
[1]The Competition Commission, Competition News, Issue 6, August 2024. https://media.licdn.com/dms/document/media/D4D1FAQFYxpZFjAS5JQ/feedshare-document-pdf-analyzed/0/1725357604620?e=1726704000&v=beta&t=f-zCi3QZ4siJdvpTtzgoGSlgFvXwUeCovjxQYtfO0Ks
[2] News letter, page 12.
[3] News letter, page 13.
[4] News letter, page 13.
[5] News letter, page 14.
[6] News letter, page 14.
[7] The Government Gazette of Mauritius, General Notice No. 668 of 2024, 1 June 2024.
[8] The Competition Commission, Competition News, Issue 6, August 2024. page 12.
