Bidvest’s Brian Joffe must be wondering whether he acquired a poisoned chalice when successfully beating off the Chilean takeover bid for struggling SA pharma group Adcock Ingram. The efforts of Adcock’s new chairman to shake things up have now hit an unlikely obstacle in the form of the Competition Commission which reckons Bidvest has not been entirely honest in its filings. As you’ll see in our interview today on CNBC Africa’s Power Lunch, the CC’s Hardin Ratshisusu now wants the Competition Tribunal to impose a three year moratorium on Adcock retrenchments. He argues Bidvest has been vague about the number of retrenchment required, so to fulfil the part of its mandate which refers to acting in the public interest, he wants to protect jobs. It’s anyone’s guess how this approach helps SA competitiveness which, presumably, is the CC’s priority. Â Joffe obviously won’t be amused. With Adcock’s share price at R53.50, the investment community is already voting that Bidvest substantially overpaid at R70. After this new spanner lobbed into the works by the CC, it’s hard to argue the market is getting it wrong. Â – AHÂ
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