Gauteng-based manufacturer and distributor of salt and chemicals Chlor-Alkali Holdings, controlled by Investec, will become the joint venture partner with the Botswana government in Botswana Ash (Bota…
Gauteng-based manufacturer and distributor of salt and chemicals Chlor-Alkali Holdings, controlled by Investec, will become the joint venture partner with the Botswana government in Botswana Ash (Botash), replacing the Anglo American group“s shareholding. The transaction, the result of two years of discussions with various potential suitors, has been notified to the competition commission and is not expected to raise competition concerns in the markets for soda ash or salt at the moment. The transaction was announced five months after the competition authorities announced that Botash“s biggest competitor, American Natural Soda Ash Company (Ansac), could no longer operate in South Africa, after a nine-year battle was initiated by Botash in 1999. In November 2008, the competition commission announced that it had reached a settlement agreement with Ansac, which coordinates the export marketing and sales functions of four US-based soda ash producers. The agreement required Ansac not to oblige its four members to make export sales to South Africa. The four member were prohibited from acting through Ansac, but each member was individually allowed to export to South Africa. As per the agreement, Ansac was required to pay an administrative penalty of R9.6 million to the commission, and Botash legal costs incurred during the legal battle. An industry source said that the Chlor-Alkali deal had been speculated for a long time, and that it was unlikely to have been influenced by the resultof the legal battle.