Botswana: Choppies supermarket moves to acquire competitor, SupaSave

FMCG SUPPLIER NEWS

Mmegi.bw - May 3rd, 09:52

Local Botswana retail chain, Choppies, has moved to wholly acquire one of its competitors, SupaSave, the Competition Authority (CA) revealed on Wednesday. 

The CA said in a statement that Choppies had filed its intention to acquire all issued shares of SupaSave and its sourcing and supply subsidiary, MegaSave.

The statement says Choppies has 53 stores in Botswana with an estimated market share of 30 percent in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector. SupaSave has six stores and less than one percent of the national market share.

"The authority therefore seeks any stakeholder views on the proposed merger, which may be sent within 10 days," the statement said. The Competition Act says that "any person, including a third party not a party to the proposed merger, may voluntarily submit to the inspector or the authority any document, affidavit, statement or other relevant information in respect of a proposed merger".

Choppies, a Botswana Stock Exchange-listed group, has several stores in neighbouring South Africa and plans further expansion.In South Africa, Choppies owns 14 stores in the North West, Limpopo and Free State provinces and a distribution centre in Rustenburg designed to enhance the efficiency of its operations.

For the six months ended December 31, 2012, Choppies returned topline revenues of P2 billion up 24 percent from the corresponding period in 2011. Weighted average earnings per share rose to 6.62 thebe from 6.11 in the same period in 2011. The Lobatse-born company employs 5,267 people of which 1,356 are in South Africa.