The Commission authorised the proposed acquisition of Exploits University by Madison Holdings Limited.
The acquiring firm, Madison Holdings, was a holding company for its wholly-owned Malawian subsidiaries namely Riverton University, Madison Business Advisory (MBA), Madison Recruitment Services and Aspen Limited.
The target firm, Exploits University was a private company incorporated with limited liability under the Companies Act (1984) with centres in Lilongwe and Blantyre. Exploits University offered undergraduate and post graduate programs in Accounting, Health Science Systems, Logistic Supply Chain Management and Marketing. Both universities had few students and the parties wanted to merge to increase their competitive advantage on the market.
The Commission’s assessment established that Madison Holdings Limited intended to save two failing firms (Exploits and Riverton University) which would otherwise end up closing down due to low enrolment. The assessment also found that the transaction would result in change of market structure by reducing number of players in the provision of tertiary education by private universities. However, the change in the market structure would not likely have negative effects on the competition in the market. Furthermore, it was envisaged that the transaction would create a player that could favourably compete on the market with its competitors. Thus, the analysis showed that the transaction would result in pro-competitive and economic outcomes.
Based on these findings, the Commission authorized the proposed merger without any conditions.