CHAMWE KAIRA
Namibian Competition Commission (NaCC) has shared its preliminary findings on the proposed acquisition of a controlling interest in Nampharm (Pty) Ltd by CFAO Healthcare Société Anonyme.
CFAO is a French-based pharmaceutical logistics and distribution company owned by the Toyota Tsusho Corporation.
Once a financial decision is made after 30 days, if the merger is approved it will be subjected to conditions aimed at protecting competition in the pharmaceutical distribution market.
The recommendations will be presented to the board of commissioners after 30 days and the commissioners will decide whether they are going to approve the merger, reject it, prohibit the merger or approve it with conditions.
Nampharm is a full-line pharmaceutical wholesaler and distributor that supplies a broad range of products, including scheduled and unscheduled medicines, consumer healthcare goods, surgical equipment, clinical supplies and dental products.
The company operates exclusively as a wholesaler and distributor and does not manufacture pharmaceutical or healthcare products. It sources its products from a wide range of local and international manufacturers and principals.
According to the Competition Commission, the transaction involves CFAO Healthcare acquiring a controlling interest in Nampharm under terms agreed between the merging parties. Once completed, the transaction will result in CFAO Healthcare obtaining control of Nampharm.
To address potential competition concerns, the Commission is expected to attach a number of conditions to the approval.
The merged entity and any of its affiliates acting as a master distributor will be expected to maintain the single exit price at which scheduled medicines are purchased from master distributors for onward distribution in Namibia.
The commission also stipulated that the merged undertaking and its affiliates may not withhold supplies of scheduled medicines from competing pharmaceutical wholesalers where they act as the sole appointed master distributor or distributor for a principal, agent or manufacturer in Namibia.
Furthermore, should any entity within the merged group become the exclusive master distributor or distributor for scheduled medicines in Namibia, and Nampharm or another subsidiary of the merged undertaking is the only entity holding stock of those medicines, the merged entity will be required to supply competing pharmaceutical wholesalers on the same terms and conditions under which the medicines were acquired.
The conditions are intended to ensure continued access to scheduled medicines by competing wholesalers and to safeguard competition in Namibia’s pharmaceutical distribution sector following the merger.
