COMPETITION TRIBUNAL
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
Case no.: 15/LM/Mar05
In the large merger between:
Investec Bank Ltd
and
Main Street 57 (Pty) Ltd, Corobrik (Pty) Ltd and Corovest (Pty) Ltd
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Reasons
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Introduction
On 26 April 2005 the Competition Tribunal unconditionally approved the merger
between Investec Bank Ltd and Main Street 57 (Pty) Ltd, Corobrik (Pty) Ltd and
Corovest (Pty) Ltd. The reasons are set out below.
The transaction
This transaction is an equity investment transaction by the Private Equity Division
of Investec Bank Limited for investment purposes. The primary acquiring firm is
Investec Bank Limited (“Investec”) and the target firms are Main Street 57 (Pty)
Ltd (“Main Street”), its wholly owned subsidiary Corobrik (Pty) Ltd (“Corobrik”)
and Corovest (Pty) Ltd (“Corovest”). The latter is controlled by SBS Investments
Ltd.
Investec will acquire –
• the entire issued share capital of Corovest, which holds 29.99% of the
share in Main Street;
• 1.33% of the shares in Main Street from Capstone; and
• 16% of the shares in Main Street from SBM.
This will result in Investec holding a total interest of 47.32% in Main Street. 1 The
remaining shares in Main Street will be held by:
• Capstone 240 (Pty) Ltd 13.67%
• Coromanco (Pty) Ltd 14%
• Eglin Investments No. 31 (Pty) Ltd 25.01%
Competitive assessment
There is no horizontal overlap in the activities of the merging parties since they
operate in different market sectors.
Investec is involved in the broad financial services market and provides a diverse
range of financial products and services, which include investment banking,
treasury and a range of specialised finance services to private clients.
Main Street and Corobrik are involved in the manufacture and marketing of face
bricks, nonface bricks, clay pavers, concrete pavers and concrete blocks.
Corovest is an investment holding company. Its only investment is its
shareholding in Main Street.
Since the merging parties are not involved in the same relevant product markets
we found that the transaction is unlikely to substantially prevent or lessen
competition in the relevant markets.
Public Interest
The merger would not result in any job losses.
____________ 24 May 2005
Y Carrim Date
1 Investec may, at its election, sell up to a maximum of 10% of its shareholding in Main Street to Mr Gary
Zulberg in his personal capacity.
2
Concurring: D Lewis and N Manoim
3