South Africa, April 14 -- The case arises from a complaint lodged by Caxton and CTP Publishers and Printers Limited, the S.O.S Support Public Broadcasting Coalition and the Media Monitoring Project Benefit Trust (the applicants). The applicants allege that a Commercial and Master Channel Distribution Agreement (the agreement), concluded between MultiChoice and the SABC in 2013, constituted a notifiable merger under the Competition Act (Act), and that the parties failed to notify the Competition Commission (Commission) as required by the Act.

In terms of the agreement, the SABC agreed to let MultiChoice carry its unencrypted free-to-air channels on MultiChoice's subscription platforms, i.e. M-Net, in exchange for payment, with a clause al...