Following an almost 15 year legal battle between Omnia Fertilizer and South Africa’s Competition Commission (CompCom), the fertiliser company has agreed to pay a R30 million “administrative penalty” for engaging in anti-competitive practices.
A CompCom statement explained that in November 2003 two affiliated fertiliser companies, Nutri-Flo and Nutri-Fertilizer, lodged a complaint alleging that Omnia Fertilizer’s subsidiary, Nitrochem, had been colluding with Sasol Chemical Industries and Kynoch Fertilizer (subsequently re-named Yara South Africa) to illegally fix prices and allocate markets.
The CompCom’s statement added that while Sasol Chemical Industries acknowledged its transgressions in these activities and had paid a R251 million penalty, and Yara South Africa had since been liquidated, Omnia Fertilizer had undertaken “protracted litigation” to challenge the CompCom’s findings.
Omnia Fertilizer’s parent company, Omnia Holdings, said in a statement that “the Omnia Board welcomes the resolution of this matter”.
“Omnia will continue with its comprehensive competition law compliance programme to ensure that the group promotes and maintains competition in the market and implements a culture of good corporate governance in this respect,” the statement added.
