South Africa: SABMiller faces tribunal for breaking competition rules, an allegation it denies

SABMiller plc, the London-based brewer, said on Friday, January 19, it will meet with South African regulators in the next month after it was found to have contravened the country's competition rules, an allegation it denies, according to Associated Press.

South Africa’s competition commission plans to refer the brewer, which has a 98 per cent share of the South African beer market and owns the Castle and Amstel brands, to the Competition Tribunal over alleged breaches of competition law.

SABMiller, which owns brands such as Miller Lite, Pilsner Urquell and Peroni, confirmed that South Africa's Competition Commission had found that it had violated "certain provisions" of the Competition Act.

"These provisions relate to prescribing selling prices to distributors, dividing markets through territory and customer allocations and discriminatory discounts," the company said.

SABMiller said it will meet with the Competition Commission in the "next month or so" in an effort to address the commission's concerns before the matter is referred to a competition tribunal for a public hearing. "We do not believe that we have engaged in any anticompetitive business practices," the brewer said.

SABMiller shares closed down 1.8% at R168 on Friday.