John Craig merger saves more than 400 jobs
|Published
The new John Craig store. Picture: Supplied.
Cape Town - More than 400 jobs have been saved after the Competition Tribunal approved a merger deal between the Pepkor-owned menswear retailer John Craig and Blue Falcon, who sell international sporting, leisure and lifestyle brands such as Adidas‚ Nike and Guess.
Tribunal spokesperson Gillian de Gouveia said: “The transaction is taking place against the background of several John Craig store closures and staff retrenchments due to financial difficulties − 422 jobs will be saved as a result of the merger.”
According to the tribunal, "The 422 John Craig employees will be transferred to Blue Falcon in line with the provisions of the Labour Relations Act. This excludes certain executives who have concluded opt–out agreements and voluntary separation agreements with Pepkor Speciality, who owns John Craig."
De Gouveia said: “Blue Falcon will not retrench any employees as a result of the merger for a period of two years from the merger’s implementation date.
“In regard to competition concerns, the tribunal has found that the merger is unlikely to substantially prevent or lessen competition in any relevant market in South Africa. The merger parties will be required to provide the Competition Commission with detailed annual reports for two years, regarding their compliance with the conditions,” said De Gouveia.
According to the merger agreement, both Blue Falcon and Pepkor Speciality should give preference to eligible John Craig employees who lost their jobs as a result of store closures when new vacancies become available, for a period of two years from the implementation date of the merger. Internal vacancies must also be communicated to the affected former employees.
De Gouveia said: “In addition, Blue Falcon and Pepkor Speciality must establish a database of the former employees and make this database available within Pepkor Speciality and John Craig for the purpose of availing employment opportunities to them.”
The Blue Falcon group is an independent retailer specialising in sports-lifestyle, "athleisure" oriented men's clothing, footwear and accessories. It sells international sporting, leisure and lifestyle brands to various emerging market consumer segments throughout sub-Saharan Africa. These brands include Adidas‚ Ellese, Puma‚ Converse‚ Nike‚ Guess‚ Superga and Levi.
John Craig mainly sells smart and formal men's apparel including chinos, formal footwear, jackets, knitwear, coats and suits. It owns an in-house label, Muratti, which has been specifically designed for the John Craig customer and is the largest retail stockist of the Polo brand in South Africa.
Cape Argus