On Monday, 11 February 2013, the Competition Tribunal (The
"Tribunal") approved the South African leg of the global
acquisition by Nestlé S.A. ("Nestlé") of
the infant nutrition business of Pfizer Inc. ("Pfizer
Nutrition"). Pfizer Nutrition's South African interests
comprise, amongst other products, infant formula and follow on
milks ("IFFO") marketed under the S-26 and SMA brands. In
South Africa, Nestlé is similarly involved in the
manufacturing and sales of IFFO under, amongst others, the NAN,
Lactogen and Pelargon brands. Nestlé is a strong market
leader in the IFFO markets in South Africa.
The merger was notified to the Competition Commission (the
"Commission") on 8 June 2012. At the outset,
Nestlé offered a remedy to address any change in market
structure that would arise in South Africa from the global
acquisition by Nestlé of Pfizer Nutrition. However, given
the nature and the peculiarities of the infant milk formula market,
Nestlé argued that a
