BNP Paribas and Atlas Mara Acquisitions Approved

 The Competition Authority has unconditionally authorised the proposed acquisition of 50% of the issued share capital in RCS Investment Holdings Limited by BNP Paribas Personal Finance S. A., as well as the proposed acquisition of 100% control In African Banking Corporation Holdings Limited By Atlas Mara Co-Nvest Limited.

Approving the acquisitions on July 30^th, the Authority said the proposed BNP Paribas acquisition is not likely to result in substantial lessening of competition, nor endanger the continuity of service, due to the absence of geographical  overlap between the activities of the merging parties in Botswana.

It said even though the merged entity is regarded as a dominant enterprise in the relevant market in Botswana as defined under section 2 of the Competition Act read together with regulation 4 of the Competition Regulations, the position was not attained as a result of the implementation of the merger; and no negative effect on public interest has been identified, in relation to the provisions of section 59(2).

Regarding the Atlas Mara acquisition, the Authority said the proposed transaction is not likely to result in substantial lessening of competition, nor endanger the continuity of service, due to the existence of post-merger competitive pressure that will continue to be posed by the top four commercial banks (First National Bank of Botswana, Barclays Bank of Botswana, Stanbic Bank Botswana and Standard Chartered Bank);

Similarly, the implementation of the proposed merger is not expected to result in the merged entity attaining a dominant position; and no significant negative effect on public interest in Botswana has been identified.