Johannesburg - The Competition Tribunal will on Tuesday hear
an application by Caxton and CTP Publishers and Printers [JSE:CAT] to review the unconditional approval of a merger
between Paarl Media and Primedia@Home.
"Tomorrow at 10am, (the) Competition Tribunal will hear
an application, by Caxton, to review an earlier decision of the Competition
Commission in which the Commission unconditionally approved a merger between
Paarl Media and Primedia (Primedia@Home)," the tribunal said on Monday.
Caxton wants the decision reversed and the merger
prohibited.
Paarl Media falls under the Naspers [JSE:NPN] group of companies,
while Primedia@Home is controlled by Media24.
In February, the Paarl Media Group said it had successfully
acquired Primedia@Home, a direct-to-home advertising distributor.
Caxton said it raised concerns, during the Commission's
investigation, that it would be negatively affected by the merger.
It claimed the Commission did not properly take these and
other factors into account in reaching its decision.
The Commission has disputed Caxton's review grounds and
argued that it conducted a thorough investigation and correctly analysed all
relevant information and properly reached its conclusion.
Paarl Media and Primedia@Home have objected to Caxton's review
application.
* Fin24 is a Naspers publication.