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COMPETITION

Nortons stands at the forefront of competition law in South Africa.  

Our firm has an unequalled track record in navigating complex, ground-breaking mergers.

Merger notifications and related matters

  • We have a 100% success rate in our opposed merger interventions since the firm started in 2009.

  • Over the last 10 years we have notified over 250 merger transactions on behalf of our clients with the relevant competition authorities and have had every single merger transaction ultimately approved.

  • Multi-jurisdictional capabilities in Botswana, Egypt, Eswatini, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Seychelles, Zambia and Zimbabwe amongst others.

  • Nortons has also acted on behalf of the Namibia and Botswana Competition Authorities.

  • We regularly provide advice in relation to competition and regulatory matters in respect of regional competition authorities such as the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).

Prohibited practices – competition investigations

We advise clients in matters involving alleged prohibited conduct, whether defending clients or lodging complaints against third parties engaging in such practices, including:

  • horizontal restrictive practices (cartel conduct), such as price fixing, market division, tender collusion; and

  • vertical restrictive practices, such as agreements between suppliers and customers and issues such as resale price maintenance; and abuses of dominance, such as excessive pricing, exclusionary practices and predatory conduct.

 

  • Nortons is currently advising a dominant company in relation to its differential pricing practices, including potential price discrimination and excessive pricing considerations.

  • We also provide advice on complex competition law and regulatory issues in South Africa and for our clients with business operations within the SADC and COMESA regions.

  • We have also secured corporate leniency for various major corporate clients and immunity applications in relation to cartel investigations across various industries.

Market inquiries

Nortons has represented clients in various market inquiries conducted by the South African Competition Commission:

  • Banking Market Inquiry (Absa);

  • Private Healthcare Market Inquiry (Netcare);

  • Grocery Retail Market Inquiry (Pick n Pay);

  • Data Market Inquiry (Telkom);

  • Online Intermediation Platforms Market Inquiry (Private Property);

  • Fresh Produce Market Inquiry (Pick n Pay);

  • The current Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry (eMedia); and

  • The current Polymers Market Inquiry (Sasol).

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