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The Competition Tribunal has referred back to the Competition Commission (CompComm) the cases involving the sale of Altech Autopage’s subscriber bases to telecommunications giants MTN, Vodacom and Cell C for some R1-billion, asking the commission for further investigation, after certain concerns were raised by Saicon Holdings in relation to the proposed transaction between Altech Autopage and Cell C.
This after the tribunal said it had become clear during the hearing, held on Wednesday, that the commission had not spoken to certain clusters of customers that may be affected by the proposed deal.
The commission had recommended the mergers be approved without conditions, but highlighted certain employment-related undertakings given by the merging parties.
It would now submit a supplementary report with its findings to the tribunal on January 29. A hearing with all the parties was set down for February 9.
The commission was, meanwhile, specifically asked to determine whether the issues to be investigated would have any bearing on Cell C.
Based on its findings, a separate hearing could be set aside for Cell C prior to February 9.
“The commission will investigate whether there was prior implementation of the transaction, as alleged by Saicon,” the tribunal said in a statement on Wednesday.