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Will Business Connexion's chief make it to the tribunal?
2007-05-24
The big question at the competition tribunal this week is: "Will Peter Watt be required to make an appearance there or not?"
Watt, the chief executive of Business Connexion (BCX) , was scheduled to give evidence on Monday at the Tribunal's hearing into the proposed merger between Telkom and BCX. He was due to be cross-examined yesterday afternoon. But on Monday he was a no-show.
Telkom's legal team explained to the tribunal that Watt was having considerable difficulty fitting an appearance into his busy schedule.
They have offered to provide the tribunal with an affidavit from Watt, which would set out his views on the merger.
Watt explained to Business Report yesterday that he felt he had little to add to evidence that had already been given to the tribunal by earlier witnesses in support of the proposed transaction.
The offer of an affidavit may or may not satisfy the competition commission, as it will not give the commission or the parties objecting to the transaction any opportunity to cross-examine those views.
If the commission is not satisfied with this situation, it could subpoena Watt to appear before the tribunal.
For Watt, an appearance before the Tribunal could be uncomfortable given the rumoured disagreements about the benefits of the merger within the BCX board.
In the absence of Watt, the hearing continued with evidence from a Dimension Data executive indicating that the acquisition of BCX was part of Telkom's strategy to slow down the development of new technology that would weaken Telkom's overbearing dominance in this industry.
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