By Brazil Stock Guide – Brazil’s antitrust tribunal has rejected an appeal by Petlove seeking clarification of the remedies attached to the approved merger between Petz Participações SA (PETZ3) and privately held Cobasi, bringing the case closer to legal finality while keeping the deal under regulatory monitoring.
The ruling, issued on Thursday, Jan. 22, allows the decision approving the transaction to become final at the Administrative Council for Economic Defense, known as Cade. The case, however, will not be closed until all remedies agreed with the authority are fully implemented, including the divestment of 26 stores.
Cade President Gustavo Augusto said the rejection of the appeal concludes the merits phase of the review and enables the decision to enter into final judgment. He added that the process remains open during the implementation and oversight of the remedies. “While the divestment has not been completed and the agreement has not been fully complied with, the case is not closed,” he said.
Petlove, a private competitor in Brazil’s pet retail market, challenged the wording of the agreement that governs the sale of the stores, most of them in São Paulo state. The company argued that the text allows the assets to be sold to one or more buyers, potentially through separate contracts and at different times, which it said conflicted with statements made by some commissioners during the original vote suggesting a single buyer.
In his opinion rejecting the appeal, reporting commissioner José Levi said the possibility of more than one buyer was merely an exceptional and hypothetical scenario, protected by safeguards designed to preserve the effectiveness of the remedy. As a result, he found no contradiction or omission that would warrant changes to the approved terms.
The vote was unanimously supported by the other members of the tribunal, leaving the merger between Petz (PETZ3) and Cobasi intact, subject to the completion of the divestments and ongoing regulatory supervision.
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