- Tsaone Segaetsho
Nampak Botswana, a plastic bottle manufacturer, is set to be acquired by the owners of Oasis Water, a key player in the bottled water market.
This week, a notice was submitted to the Competition and Consumer Authority (CCA) in Botswana, as the Oasis Water owners examine regulatory concerns following their successful acquisition of Nampak Southern Africa Holdings, which strengthened their hold on the South African bottled water value chain.
The owners of Oasis Water are now targeting Nampak Botswana, a subsidiary of Nampak Southern Africa Holdings, and are seeking approval from the CCA to ensure no anti-trust laws are breached. The CCA is expected to endorse the decision by the Competition Commission of South Africa, which approved the merger of Nampak and Oasis Water’s holding company last month.
According to the CCA, Vernotone, a South African company, intends to acquire all issued shares in Nampak Botswana from Nampak Southern Africa Holdings. Vernotone’s shareholders are SLA Capital Proprietary Limited, holding 80%, and Steltrade Proprietary Limited, holding 20%. SLA Capital, controlled by Johan Buys, is an investment holding company with stakes in Oasis Water Holdings. Steltrade, controlled by Louis Kotze, is a trading and financial services company with no business interests in Botswana.
SLA Capital, through Oasis Water, has franchisees in Botswana and earns royalty fees, while Steltrade does not operate in the country. Vernotone, co-owned by Buys and Kotze, is poised to celebrate another successful merger in Botswana, following regulatory approval from South African authorities earlier this year.
The two South African businessmen aim to dominate the bottled water industry in Southern Africa by integrating the plastic bottle business, thus controlling the entire value chain. The Competition Commission of South Africa found no antitrust issues in this substantial business move.
Nampak Botswana manufactures, sells, and supplies high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles to the water and dairy industries. The CCA announced on Monday that it seeks stakeholder views on the proposed merger, with responses due within 10 days of the notice.
In South Africa, the decision to approve the merger involved scrutinising the relevant activities of the Acquiring Group (Vernotone), which include refilling, bottling, packaging, and distributing purified water and related beverages through Oasis Water. The South African antitrust body also examined Nampak’s Liquid Plastics Business, which involves manufacturing, selling, and supplying HDPE and PET bottles and jars. The Commission concluded that the merger would not significantly lessen competition in any market.
