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South African Reserve Bank and South African Bankers Services Company (Pty) Ltd
The Competition Tribunal (“Tribunal”) has unconditionally approved the merger in which the South African Reserve Bank (“SARB”) will acquire shareholding in the South African Bankers Services Company (Pty) Ltd (“Bankserv”). Following the merger, the SARB will control Bankserv.
The SARB, an organ of the state, is South Africa’s central bank. Its primary mandate is to protect the value of the South African Rand in the interest of balanced and sustainable economic growth. Relevant to this transaction is that the SARB is responsible for managing the National Payment System (“NPS”). The NPS includes all the systems, mechanisms, institutions, agreements, procedures, rules and laws that come into play from the moment an end-user, using a payment instrument, issues an instruction to pay another person or business, to the final interbank settlement of the transaction in the books of the central bank (in this case, the SARB).
The target firm, BankservAfrica, is the primary payment clearing house system operator, authorised by the Payment Association of South Africa, for domestic payments in South Africa. Its main activity is delivering payment clearing and settlement services for South African financial institutions such as banks. It facilitates payment transactions between payment institutions and enables domestic payment transactions involving different bank clients to occur between different banks, and for those payment transactions to be settled and cleared seamlessly.
VCAP1 Alliance (Pty) Ltd and Cellair (Pty) Ltd, Silver Dawn Investments 181 (Pty) Ltd, Powerpack Solutions (Pty) Ltd and Onetime Airtime (Pty) Ltd which entities forms part of Cellair Holdings (Pty) Ltd
The Tribunal has unconditionally approved the merger in which VCAP1 Alliances (Pty) Ltd (“VCAP1”) will acquire: (i) CellAir (Pty) Ltd (“CellAir”); (ii) Silver Dawn Investments 181 (Pty) Ltd (“Silver Dawn”); (iii) Powerpack Solutions (Pty) Ltd (“Powerpack”); and (iv) Onetime Airtime (Pty) Ltd (“Onetime”), collectively the “CellAir Group” from CellAir Holdings (Pty) Ltd. Following the merger, VCAP1 will exercise sole control of the CellAir Group.
VCAP1 is an investment holding firm established to invest in the fintech and payments industry. It operates through the following firms which are relevant to the merger:
- Virtual Payment Solutions (Pty) Ltd, which operates as an intermediary between mobile network operators and retailers by offering various virtual prepaid solutions;
- SwitchOne (Pty) Ltd, which operates as a Third-Party Payment Processor; and
- Prepaid World Group12, whose core offering includes the tokenisation and distribution of electricity tokens in the prepaid environment, and the provision of revenue enhancement systems for both prepaid and postpaid utility customers.
The activities of the CellAir Group include the following:
- CellAir, a supplier of value added services enabled (“VAS-enabled”) point-of-sale (“POS”) terminals, targeting South Africa's informal markets, SMME (small, medium, and micro-enterprise) segments and the fuel retail sector;
- Onetime, an online prepaid electricity vending platform using only electronic funds transfers (EFTs) as payment;
- Powerpack, which distributes SIM cards; and
- Silver Dawn, which owns the purpose-built campus from which the CellAir Group operates.
CFAO Mobility Properties 2 (Pty) Ltd and the dealership business conducted by Marble Gold 182 (Pty) Ltd in respect of the VW Polokwane and Audi Polokwane dealership
The Tribunal has unconditionally approved the merger in which CFAO Mobility Properties 2 (Pty) Ltd (“CFAO Properties”) will acquire the business conducted by Marble Gold 182 (Pty) Ltd (“Marble Gold”) in respect of the VW Polokwane and Audi Polokwane dealerships located at Corner of Grobler and Thabo Mbeki Street, Polokwane (“the target business”).
The acquiring group (all firms controlling CFAO Properties and all the firms controlled by those firms) is active in: (i) the sale of new and pre-used vehicles including passenger vehicles (“PVs”) and light commercial vehicles (“LCVs”); (ii) the sale of parts and accessories; and (iii) aftermarket services through their franchised dealerships in South Africa.
Marble Gold operates Volkswagen and Audi dealerships, which sell PVs and LCVs, including sale of parts and accessories and aftermarket services in Polokwane.
Issued by: Gillian de Gouveia, Communications Manager On behalf of the Competition Tribunal of South Africa Tel: +27 (0) 12 394 1383 Cell: +27 (0) 82 410 1195 E-Mail: GillianD@comptrib.co.za X (Twitter): @comptrib LinkedIn: Competition Tribunal of South Africa
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