The Competition Commission on Wednesday referred a case of collusion in the retail property market in Bedfordview to the Competition Tribunal for adjudication. 

"The Competition Commission referred a case of market allocation in the retail property market to the Tribunal for adjudication on the 15 March 2011," the commission said in a statement. 

Various parties were allegedly colluding to divide markets in Bedfordview by allocating customers and territories through two deeds of restraint. The parties involved were Erf 179 Bedfordview, Liberty Group, Bedford Square Properties and Win Twice Properties. 

Erf 179 owns Village View Shopping Centre, while Liberty owns Eastgate Shopping Centre. 

Win Twice and Bedford Square are subsidiaries of the HBW Group and both own Bedford Square Shopping Centre. 

The commission started investigating in August 2009 following a complaint. 

Bedford Squareand Win Twice had since applied for lenience. 

"The commission's investigation established that Bedford Square is being prevented from concluding a lease agreement with Woolworths or Mica hardware store for a period of 11 years starting from 4 November 2003." 

The Win Twice restraint, which commenced from 12 July 2004, prevents Win Twice from concluding a similar lease agreement for 15 years, the commission said. 

These restraints contravened the Competition Act as they amounted to market division by allocating customers or territories. Liberty and the commission had entered into a settlement agreement, which was confirmed by the tribunal on March 4. 

In terms of this, Liberty would pay a penalty of around R18 million. This was 2.5 percent of its retail property portfolio's total turnover for the financial year ended 2008. 

The commission wants an administrative penalty imposed on Erf 179. There are also pending proceedings in the High Court in Pretoria and an interim relief application in the tribunal between Erf 179 and Bedford Square. 

These relate to the same restraints of trade. - Sapa

Readers' Comments Have a comment about this article? Email us now.