By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Competition Commission has taken a ground-breaking move of asking the Competition Tribunal to reverse its approval of Premier Group’s R6 billion acquisition of RFG Tulbagh canning business.
The Competition Watchdog claims the parties concealed plans to close the canning business.
The move follows its investigation of a complaint lodged by, among others, the South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) over claims of a breach of merger conditions.
Before the merger was referred to the tribunal, it’s understood Premier Foods had not expressed any plans of closing nor disposing of any manufacturing facilities or production lines, or equipment after the merger.
The merger was subsequently implemented on 30 March.
The facility, Fruit Processing Western Cape (FPWC), is one of only two fruit-canning facilities in South Africa and provides an important route to market for approximately 200 Western Cape fruit growers.
In a statement on Wednesday, 08 October 2026, Competition Commissioner Doris Tshepe confirmed that its investigation found that Premier and RFG had failed to disclose information about the contemplated closure to the commission and the tribunal.
This is “despite the parties having known of and discussed the option to do so before the tribunal approved the merger”, said Tshepe.
“The non-disclosure denied the commission and the tribunal an opportunity to assess and address the closure’s competition and public-interest implications before approving the merger.”
“Withholding material information, whether by omission or as a deliberate act, undermines the integrity of the merger-control regime and may result in the revocation of an approved merger,” Tshepe further cautioned.
The commission said the contemplated closure of the Tulbagh cannery was material to the assessment of both the competition and public-interest aspects of the merger as it would remove the only competitor to Langeberg from the South African market, effectively creating a monopoly in the sector.
“The integrity of South Africa’s merger-control regime depends on merger parties making full, frank and honest disclosure of all material information, “Tshepe added.
The tribunal is now set to consider the revocation application.
Premier Foods strongly rejects the Commission’s allegations, saying the decision to close the plant was driven by deteriorating market conditions and was in no way related to the merger.
The company added it had been forthcoming with the Competition Commission, as soon as the need arose, providing it with the chronology of events and supporting documents related to its decision-making process related to FPWC.
“Premier’s position is clear: the proposed controlled closure of FPWC was not a decision, intention or merger implementation step at the time of the merger approval process,” Premier reiterated.
“The decision to close FPWC is not in any way related to the merger but arose after implementation of the transaction, following the deterioration in FPWC’s operating environment and the commercial realities facing the canned deciduous fruit category.”
Legal experts describe the move as a first in SA competition law, while one analyst said a full unwinding is possible but unlikely, viewing it as a regulatory overhang rather than a deal-breaker.