Tribunal stalls Tsogo Sun/Niveus ‘restructuring’
The plans of Hosken Consolidated Investment’s (HCI) to restructure gaming assets held in two of its subsidiaries, Tsogo Sun and Niveus, have been stalled following a ruling by the Competition Tribunal that will require HCI to seek competition approval for the planned restructuring. A Business Day report says the ruling was issued just 36 hours before Niveus and Tsogo Sun shareholders were due to vote on the restructuring.
HCI chair Johnny Copelyn indicated yesterday that the two meetings would be going ahead. But given the possibility that the competition authorities could impose conditions on the restructuring, there was some uncertainty about what would be voted on. HCI did not approach the competition authorities for approval in December 2016, when it first announced the restructuring.
It told the tribunal it believed the restructuring proposal did not constitute a merger and was merely a consolidation of its gaming interests. HCI argued that – as it already had a controlling shareholding in Tsogo and a controlling interest in Niveus – the transaction amounted to an internal restructuring. However, the commission advised HCI that the proposed restructuring had to be notified as a merger.
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