* Court throws out government appeal
* Rules that 503 workers must be rehired
* Victory for Wal-Mart, S.Africa image abroad
By Tiisetso Motsoeneng and Wendell Roelf
CAPE TOWN, March 9 (Reuters) – A South African court
on Friday largely dismissed an appeal from government and unions
to roll back approval for Wal-Mart’s $2.4 billion
acquisition of Massmart, ending months of uncertainty
about the status of the deal.
The Competition Appeal Court shot down the government’s
request to have the deal re-examined, although it did rule that
about 500 previously fired workers should be reinstated.
The ruling is likely to be seen as a victory for Wal-Mart
Stores Inc in its plan to expand in fast-growing Africa. It is
also likely to soothe local investors, who had feared a
retroactive ruling against the deal would tarnish South Africa’s
reputation as being open to foreign capital.
“Finally logic prevailed. Questions about how open South
Africa is to foreign investment will still be there, but this
ruling is a big positive for its image as an investment
destination for foreign companies,” said Nic Norman-Smith, a
fund manager at Lentus Asset Management in Johannesburg.
“It’s unfortunate that we had to go through all this, but
the right decision was made in the end.”
Continued…
