Common Market for Eastern
Kang'ombe House, 5th Floor-West Wing
and Southern Africa
P.O. Box 30742
Lilongwe 3, Malawi
Tel: +265 (0) 1772466
Email- compcom@comesa.int
CCC Merger Inquiry Notice No. 39 of 2019
Notice of Inquiry into the Proposed Merger involving PepsiCo, Inc. and
Pioneer Food
Group Limited
It is hereby notified in terms of Article 26(6) of the COMESA Competition Regulations (the
“
Regulations
”) that the COMESA Competition Commission (the “
Commission
”), after
receiving a notification in terms of Article 24 of the Regulations regarding the proposed merger
involving PepsiCo, Inc.
(“
PepsiCo
”)
as the acquiring undertaking
and Pioneer Food Group
Limited (“
Pioneer Foods
”) as the target undertaking, intends to embark on an inquiry in terms
of Article 26 of the Regulations.
The parties have submitted that PepsiCo is a public company incorporated under the laws of
the United States. PepsiCo has a primary listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market and a secondary
listing on the SIX Swiss Exchange. PepsiCo supplies various packaged foods and beverages
worldwide. Within the Common Market the activities of PepsiCo and its wholly-owned
subsidiary Simba Proprietary Limited (“Simba”) include the sale of a number of ready-to-eat
savoury snack products; breakfast cereals; inputs for the manufacture of PepsiCo branded
carbonated soft drinks (CSDs) as well as the manufacture and sale of PepsiCo branded CSDs
in Egypt. In the Common Market, PepsiCo derives turnover in the following Member States:
the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya,
Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Seychelles, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The parties have submitted that Pioneer Foods is a public company incorporated under the laws
of South Africa. Pioneer Foods manufactures and supplies food and beverages to various
customers in South Africa and exports its products to countries worldwide, including to various
Member States. Insofar as the activities of Pioneer Foods in the Common Market are
concerned, it supplies various grocery products, beverage (non-CSDs) and breakfast cereal
products. In the Common Market, Pioneer Foods derives turnover in the following Member
States: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi,
Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
In terms of the notified transaction, the parties have submitted that Simba has delivered notice
to Pioneer Foods of its firm intention to make an offer to acquire the issued shares of Pioneer
Foods. PepsiCo considers that Pioneer Foods has a locally relevant product range that
complements PepsiCo’s current products. Furthermore, the proposed transaction will facilitate
