A delay by the Competition Commission in deciding whether Fruit & Veg City and Pick’n Pay should enter into a partnership has forced the two bodies to withdraw from the proposed deal, Fruit & Veg City said on Tuesday.
Managing director Brian Coppin said the two groups would not be pursuing their proposed deal because of ”an already unacceptable regulatory delay”.
The two stated their intention to partner on June 2006 but on January 31 this year, the Competition Commission recommended that Pick’n Pay be prohibited from acquiring Fruit & Veg City.
The Commission said the two were competitors in the retail sector for fresh-market food, and the proposed acquisition would result in the removal of effective competition. The matter has since been referred to the Competition Tribunal for a final decision.
But Coppin said the eight-month delay was just ”unfair and not practical”.
”Not only do we get a really unexpected and an incorrect recommendation from the Competition Commission, but it takes eight months for them to come to a decision at all.
”We cannot believe this evaluation could have been that complicated that it warranted this length of time.”
He said the companies did not believe the partnership would have been bad for the consumer.
Pick ‘n Pay CEO Nick Badminton said the company was disappointed that the deal was not going to be pursued, but concurred with Coppin on the length of time it took for the commission to study the proposed deal. – Sapa