The theory of “potential competition” has increasingly appeared in merger decisions by the South African Competition Authorities recently, wherein it has been questioned whether one of the merging parties would, absent the merger, become a competitor to the other merging party, even if this is not the case at the time of the merger.
This note looks at the types of mergers where this concern may be raised. It also looks at some recent examples and reviews these. And finally, it considers the (relatively high) bar required for this to gain traction as a concern in a merger assessment.