PREMIER GROUP LIMITED - Competition Commission application in relation to RFG Transaction

What this filing means

The Competition Commission has applied to the Tribunal to revoke the merger approval for Premier's acquisition of RFG Holdings and force a refile or amended conditions, citing the closure of the FPWC Tulbagh facility as potentially material to the original review. Premier strongly contests the application, saying the closure was a post-merger operational decision driven by structural industry decline — the canned deciduous fruit market deteriorated after implementation — and not something withheld during the original review. Premier says it has not been presented with evidence demonstrating the closure arose as a consequence of, or is linked to, the RFG Transaction.

The competition regulator is unhappy that Premier closed a canning factory after buying RFG, and wants the deal unwound or renegotiated. Premier says the factory closure had nothing to do with the deal — it was forced by a collapsing canned fruit market that got worse after the merger, and it has not been shown evidence linking the two. The regulator wants to force the parties back to the table; Premier is fighting it. This matters because if the Tribunal agrees, the deal that already closed could be restructured or conditions imposed — but Premier is confident it has done nothing wrong, and most of the workforce impact has already been resolved separately through voluntary severance.