Lesley Stones
9 January 2009
Johannesburg — ALTECH was vilified yesterday for conducting a highly disruptive but ultimately aborted campaign to derail a merger of two other companies in a move wasting it millions of rands and likely to cost it millions more.
Lawyers in MTN's R1,4bn bid to buy Verizon SA were forced to respond to a variety of allegations that later evaporated as Altech kept changing its reasons for opposing the deal, the Competition Tribunal heard.
The tribunal was also vexed when Altech pulled out of the hearings, as five days had been allocated for a process that was wrapped up in hours after Altech withdrew its objections.
MTN was allowed to absorb Verizon's operations, making it a stronger player in the data and internet arena.
Tribunal chairman Norman Manoim said Altech's withdrawal came as a "surprise twist to the tale at the eleventh hour", and hinted the cost of the entire merger hearings might be imposed on Altech.
A lawyer used an earthy expression to describe Altech's predicament when it realised its arguments were flimsy and backed out to save face.
MTN's senior counsel, Mike van der Nest, said his team was piqued at having to spend Christmas preparing evidence to refute Altech's claims that the deal was anticompetitive.
Altech initially gave four theories of harm, or reasons why the deal would be detrimental to the industry.
"To our surprise, on December 29, Altech's theories of harm had, like a nervous meerkat, disappeared into a burrow and instead we were faced with an entirely new theory of harm," Van der Nest said.
"Altech's opposition was a moving target: theories came, theories went, and new theories came."
Altech finally backed down when MTN promised to treat Verizon and its own Network Services division in the same way it treated other independent industry players, and not to offer them any preferential prices for its services.
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