Media24 Predatory Pricing Action

In September 2015, the Competition Tribunal of South Africa concluded that media firm Media24 had engaged in exclusionary behavior as it priced below the average total costs of its newspaper and in addition, had a plan of predation, thereby foreclosing one of its rival newspapers from the market. The decision of the Tribunal followed an initial investigation by the South African Competition Commission (SACC) which alleged that Media24 had been engaging in predatory behavior in a market for local newspapers by keeping a loss-making newspaper in the market to drive competitors out of that market. According to SACC, this amounted to an abuse of a dominant position. Compass Lexecon was retained by the SACC and provided an expert report that assessed whether Media24 was incurring a loss by keeping the newspaper in the market, and whether keeping the newspaper in the market could exclude other newspapers from the market. Compass Lexecon also provided expert testimony before the South African Competition Tribunal, analyzed Media24’s economic submissions, and assisted the SACC legal team with cross examination of Media24’s witnesses. The Compass Lexecon team advising SACC included Jorge Padilla, Segye Shin and Neil Dryden.