Africa: Regional competition authority marks $1B worth of mergers

The Common Market for Southern and Eastern Africa announced that it has cleared more than $1 billion worth of merger deals in nine member states last year.

The COMESA Competition Commission Chief Executive Officer George Lipimile said this week that COMESA has helped streamline the merger review process for its member states, resulting in boosted economies, improved competitive environments and a reduction in the burden placed on national authorities for reviewing such deals.

A total of 13 deals were notified to COMESA’s Competition Commission; nine of them have been cleared, the regulator said, with an estimated total value of more than $1 billion.

Among the key mergers in the last year include a merger between Koninkijke Philips Electronics and Funai Electric Company, a deal that transcended Egypt, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and other nations.

Another of those deals is the acquisition of pharmaceutical firm Cipla Medpro by Cipla India; that deal, COMESA said, included all 19 of its member states, though the Cipla unit is based in South Africa.

Full content: Daily-Mail

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.