Description of Activities

Description of transaction: The Commission resolved to approve without conditions the acquisition by Apex Capital Partners Limited of the shares in DRA Global Limited. 

Acquiring group: The primary acquiring undertaking is Apex Capital Partners Limited, which is incorporated in South Africa and is a subsidiary of Apex Partners Holdings Proprietary Limited. The acquiring group is in the provision of capital equipment for the mining, construction, and quarrying industries; the supply of aftermarket spare parts and ground-engaging tools for capital equipment; and the provision of equipment, spares, service, and aftermarket maintenance for boiler cleaning systems and materials handling systems. In Namibia, the acquiring group generates an income from the sales of tractors & grader supplies, Letaba pumps, elephant lifting equipment, construction equipment, earthmoving equipment, and mining and quarrying equipment. 

Target undertaking: The target undertaking, DRA Global Limited, is an unlisted disclosing undertaking in Australia. DRA Global controls several undertakings operating in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia and the Pacific, North America, and South America. In Namibia, DRA Global controls DRA Mineral Projects Proprietary Limited (“DRA Mineral Projects”). The Target Group is a multinational consulting engineering services and engineering procurement and construction management business that provides technical, project, and operational support services to particular customer segments such as mining, infrastructure, and mineral processing plant design and construction. In Namibia, the Target Group provides specialist engineering and project management services to the mining industry, focused on advancing conceptual studies through to project implementation.

Relevant market: Defined as the provision of specialist engineering services to the mining industry in Namibia.

Merger Determination

The Commission found the proposed transaction unlikely to result in the prevention or substantial lessening of competition or result in any undertaking to acquire or strengthen a dominant position in the market and did not raise any public interest concerns.

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