The approval was also based on assurances that the closing or disposal of any manufacturing facilities, production lines, or equipment would not occur after the merger, the commission said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“[The companies] repeated this assurance before the Competition Tribunal approved the transaction, confirming that they did not contemplate closing, integrating or consolidating their respective production facilities,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, in July 2026, four months after the merger was implemented, Premier informed the commission that it intended to close RFG\u2019s fruit-canning facility in Tulbagh, Western Cape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The facility, Fruit Processing Western Cape (FPWC), is one of only two fruit-canning facilities in South Africa and provides an important route to market for approximately 200 Western Cape fruit growers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The FPWC is a large fruit-processing operation in the Western Cape that has been affected by deteriorating conditions in the global canned-fruit industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In September 2026, Premier said its board had decided in July not to reopen the factory for the upcoming harvest season after a detailed assessment of the business and international market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Premier said the decision was driven by long-term structural problems in the global industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FPWC\u2019s problems have been particularly severe because it relies heavily on international markets. Premier said approximately 90% of the factory\u2019s production is exported, but those prospects had deteriorated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the Competition Commission said the closure would have a massive impact on competition and jobs in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“[The factory] is a significant regional employer, and its proposed closure would affect more than 400 permanent and fixed-term employees, as well as thousands of seasonal workers across the broader agricultural value chain,” the commission said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Non-disclosure<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Tulbagh-9-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe commission said that a complaint by worker unions prompted an investigation. The unions alleged that the cannery’s shutdown was a breach of the merger conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The investigation found that Premier and RFG had failed to disclose information about the contemplated closure to the Commission and the Tribunal, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was despite the parties having known of and discussed the option to do so before the Tribunal approved the merger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This information was material to the Commission\u2019s assessment, particularly because the Commission had expressly requested confirmation of the parties\u2019 post-merger plans for the closure, integration or consolidation of their production facilities,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The commission said that the non-disclosure thus denied the Commission and the Tribunal an opportunity to assess and address the closure\u2019s competition and public-interest implications before approving the merger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The contemplated closure of the Tulbagh cannery was material to the assessment of both the competition and public-interest aspects of the merger,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Withholding material information, whether by omission or as a deliberate act, undermines the integrity of the merger-control regime and may result in the revocation of an approved merger.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The commission said that shutting down the Tulbagh cannery would remove the only competitor to Langeberg from the South African market, effectively creating a monopoly in the sector. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The public-interest consequences would also be significant, it said, including the aforementioned loss of permanent and seasonal jobs, the loss of a longstanding customer, and the decline of exports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Competition Commission is moving to revoke approval of the merger between Premier Group and RFG Holdings, after the company shut down its fruit cannery in Tulbagh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":870994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2107743744376152229","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2229153907905008","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18115311845470191","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[1516,22213],"class_list":["post-878665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-competition-commission","tag-premier-group"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=878665"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":878687,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878665\/revisions\/878687"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=878665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=878665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=878665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe commission said that a complaint by worker unions prompted an investigation. The unions alleged that the cannery’s shutdown was a breach of the merger conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The investigation found that Premier and RFG had failed to disclose information about the contemplated closure to the Commission and the Tribunal, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was despite the parties having known of and discussed the option to do so before the Tribunal approved the merger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This information was material to the Commission\u2019s assessment, particularly because the Commission had expressly requested confirmation of the parties\u2019 post-merger plans for the closure, integration or consolidation of their production facilities,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The commission said that the non-disclosure thus denied the Commission and the Tribunal an opportunity to assess and address the closure\u2019s competition and public-interest implications before approving the merger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The contemplated closure of the Tulbagh cannery was material to the assessment of both the competition and public-interest aspects of the merger,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Withholding material information, whether by omission or as a deliberate act, undermines the integrity of the merger-control regime and may result in the revocation of an approved merger.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The commission said that shutting down the Tulbagh cannery would remove the only competitor to Langeberg from the South African market, effectively creating a monopoly in the sector. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The public-interest consequences would also be significant, it said, including the aforementioned loss of permanent and seasonal jobs, the loss of a longstanding customer, and the decline of exports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Competition Commission is moving to revoke approval of the merger between Premier Group and RFG Holdings, after the company shut down its fruit cannery in Tulbagh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":870994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2107743744376152229","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2229153907905008","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18115311845470191","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[1516,22213],"class_list":["post-878665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-competition-commission","tag-premier-group"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=878665"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":878687,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878665\/revisions\/878687"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=878665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=878665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=878665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}