Description of Activities

Description of transaction: The proposed transaction involves JD Financial Services Proprietary Limited (“JD Namibia”) acquiring the retail furniture segment (“OK Furniture”) and all the claims, rights, title and interests (“Furniture Debtors Book”) of OK Bazaars (Namibia) Limited (“OK Bazaars Namibia”).

Acquiring group: The primary acquiring undertaking is JD Namibia, which is controlled by Pepkor Holdings Limited, the acquiring group commenced operations over 100 years ago, with a retail footprint of approximately 5900 stores operating across 9 African countries and in Brazil and employs around 50 000 employees. The acquiring group business operations can be classified into: Clothing, footwear, and homeware; furniture, appliances and electronics; Fintech; and Strategic services. In Namibia Pepkor Holdings Limited operates under the following brands: Pep; Ackermans; Tekkie Town; Dunns; Refinery; Shoe City; S.P.C.C; Sleepmasters; HiFi Corp; Incredible; and Tenacity.

Target undertaking: The primary target undertaking is JD Namibia is the retail furniture segment (“OK Furniture”) and all the claims, rights, title and interests (“Furniture Debtors Book”) of OK Bazaars (Namibia) Limited (“OK Bazaars Namibia”). The target in this regard mainly operates in the retail sale of household furniture and appliances through OK Furniture and House and Home brands. The target also sells cellular products and household textiles.

Relevant market: Defined as the market for the retail of household furniture, appliances, and household textiles in Namibia. 

Merger Determination

The Commission’s decision is based on the grounds that the proposed merger was found to strength a dominant position and having ability to facilitate coordination, as envisaged by section 47(2) of the Competition Act, 2003. Therefore, in order to maintain competitive dynamics, protect public interest and to encourage growth of the sectors affected by the implementation of the Proposed Transaction, the Acquiring group and Target Undertaking shall, adhere to the following conditions: Supplier Relations and SME Support, Non-Bundling Commitment and no merger specific retrenchments for a period of three years.

However, as stated under section 50 of the Act, this approval does not relieve parties from complying with any other mandatory statutory approvals that any of the parties to this merger must comply with under Namibian laws