Gamma Investments CC (Gamma), along with Johannes !Gawaxab and Ismael Gei-Khoibeb have reached a N$1 million settlement agreement with the Namibian Competition Commission (NaCC) to resolve a case concerning an undisclosed merger.
According to NaCC’s Corporate Communications Practitioner Dina //Gowases, an investigation found that all three parties contravened Chapter 4 of the Competition Act No. 2 of 2003 (the Act) by failing to notify the Commission of a merger implemented in June 2020.
The merger involved !Gawaxab selling his member interest in Gamma to Gei-Khoibeb, ultimately granting Gei-Khoibeb a majority stake.
“The Act mandates notification for mergers exceeding specific thresholds. In this instance, the parties’ failure to notify the NaCC constituted a violation of sections 44, 51, and 53 of the Competition Act.” she said
She further explained that to settle the matter, Gamma, along with !Gawaxab and Gei-Khoibeb, had agreed to the N$1 million penalty and the implementation of a compliance programme on Namibian Competition Law.
The High Court formalised the settlement agreement on 30 April 2024.
//Gowases also said this case serves as a cautionary tale for businesses regarding the importance of adhering to Namibia’s Competition Act, particularly Chapter 4 on mergers.
She explained that merger notification safeguards consumers from potential drawbacks of market dominance.
“This has the benefit of protecting consumers from potential abuses that can result from market dominance. Specifically, the merger assessments aim at ensuring that merging firms will not have the ability to raise prices, reduce quantity and/or quality, and reduce the range of customer service post-merger.” she said.
