Retailers lose their bid to delay a hearing into lease agreements
The Competition Tribunal has rejected an application by retailers Shoprite Checkers, Pick n Pay and Spar Group to delay a hearing into an application brought by Massmart objecting to exclusivity in lease agreements with landlords with regards to its Game stores.
The three retailers argued before the tribunal in July that the matter should only be heard after the completion of the inquiry being conducted by the Competition Commission into the grocery sector.
Massmart said it wishes to enter the fresh grocery products market through its Game store chain, but cannot do so because of exclusivity agreements between the listed retailers and landlords of shopping malls to prevent another chain from selling fresh grocery products.
Although ruling that Massmart had a right to bring its case to the tribunal, it gave Massmart 40 business days from September 1 to provide a more substantive affidavit supporting its allegations against the three retailers.
The tribunal said Massmart had failed to clearly define and allege the material facts concerning the relevant market and the consequence of the anticompetitive effects.
Massmart lodged the case with the tribunal after receiving notice of nonreferral from the commission on the grounds that it was conducting a market inquiry into the grocery sector.
Massmart argues, among other things, that the inquiry will focus more on the small and independent retailers in townships, peri-urban areas, rural areas and the information economy, rather than the likes of Massmart.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation