Premier notes the Competition Commission’s application to the Competition Tribunal regarding the Premier / RFG transaction. In terms of the relief the Commission is seeking, it requests that the Tribunal either revoke the initial merger approval and have the merger refiled and considered, or amend the conditions it imposed as part of the initial merger approval. The Commission’s application also seeks to urgently restrain Premier from taking steps that may undermine the Tulbagh Facility’s ability to continue operating as a canning facility. Premier strongly disagrees with the Commission’s characterisation of the parties’ conduct and the basis for the application and will defend its position before the Tribunal.
Premier rejects any suggestion that it acted unlawfully, withheld material information or sought to mislead the Commission or the Tribunal during the merger review process. Since July 2026, Premier has proactively engaged with the Commission on the potential closure of Fruit Products Western Cape (FPWC) and provided it with the chronology of events and supporting documents related to its decision-making process regarding FPWC.
Premier’s position is clear: the proposed controlled closure of FPWC was not a decision, intention or merger implementation step at the time of the merger approval process. The decision to close FPWC is not in any way related to the merger but arose after implementation of the transaction, following the deterioration in FPWC’s operating environment and the commercial realities facing the canned deciduous fruit category.
The recent decisions taken relating to the FPWC business were driven by structural and economic pressures in the canned deciduous fruit industry, including changing global demand, export-market pressure, rising input costs, lower utilisation and the need for greater scale in an increasingly competitive international market. It was neither Premier nor RFG’s intention to close the facility during the merger review process, and there has to date been no evidence presented to Premier to demonstrate that the likely fate of the Tulbagh Facility is related or linked to the merger. This is despite months of investigations having been conducted by the Commission and following substantive submissions and evidence which Premier has already provided to the Commission.
The commercial reality and facts that resulted in Premier taking the decision to exit the deciduous fruit canning market would have confronted the FPWC business irrespective of the merger.
Premier has engaged with the Commission throughout this process and will continue to engage through the appropriate legal channels. The matter will ultimately need to be determined by the Competition Tribunal, which is an independent and impartial adjudicative body, following a consideration of the pleadings, evidence and legal argument. While these litigation processes take time to finalise, Premier looks forward to the swift and expeditious resolution of this matter and is confident that the Commission’s application is misguided and that the Tribunal will agree.
Premier also confirms that a CCMA-facilitated Section 189A consultation process relating to FPWC has concluded. Following consultations and negotiations with recognised trade unions, Premier made voluntary severance packages available to affected employees. The overwhelming majority of affected employees entered into voluntary severance agreements. As a result, no retrenchments will be implemented.
Premier remains focused on reducing the impact on affected stakeholders wherever possible, including through engagement with producer suppliers, parties interested in repurposing the Tulbagh site for alternative use, and other relevant stakeholders, while respecting the legal processes underway.