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OCE - Oceana Group Limited - Consent agreement concluded with The Competition Commission OCEANA GROUP LIMITED (Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa) (Registration number: 1939/001730/06) JSE share code: OCE NSX share code: OCG ISIN: ZAE000025284 CONSENT AGREEMENT CONCLUDED WITH THE COMPETITION COMMISSION Following an investigation into the small pelagic fishery by the Competition Commission (hereinafter "Commission"), Oceana Group Limited and its subsidiary Oceana Brands Limited (collectively hereinafter "Oceana") have accepted responsibility for certain contraventions of the Competition Act No. 89 of 1998, as amended ("the Competition Act"). Accordingly, Oceana has agreed to pay an administrative penalty amounting to R34.75 million representing 5% of its affected turnover derived from its pelagic fishing operations in South Africa in the 2010 financial year. This is in full and final settlement and is subject to confirmation by the Competition Tribunal. Oceana Group CEO, Francois Kuttel, said, "Oceana has co-operated fully with the Commission during its investigation and whilst we deeply regret the Commission`s findings, we acknowledge that this conduct occurred, with the exception of the Sea Harvest matter. The bulk of the penalty relates to open negotiations which were in place for the purposes of compensating skippers, crew and some private boat owners in the small pelagic fishery for over four decades. Whilst it was technically a contravention of the Competition Act, we believed this activity was covered by the exemption relating to collective bargaining. The remaining infringements were technical in nature and in certain cases, never implemented. Most importantly, no harm was done in any way to consumers through any of these infringements. Two of the contraventions had ceased two years prior to the Commission`s original complaint in July 2008. The others were identified during our compliance audit as contraventions and the conduct in question was immediately discontinued." Oceana respectfully disagrees with the Commission`s conclusions regarding the effect of the Sea Harvest shareholders agreement, given that the Company was not even aware that the agreement existed until 2010. Oceana has implemented a comprehensive ongoing Competition Law compliance programme, consisting of training and education, compliance audits, the introduction of relevant corporate policies and procedures as well as the establishment of appropriate monitoring and reporting mechanisms. Oceana operates responsibly and ethically in strict accordance with the laws of the country and the King III principles of good corporate governance. Cape Town 9 May 2012 JSE Sponsor The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited Namibian Sponsor Namibia Old Mutual Investment Services (Namibia) Proprietary Limited Date: 09/05/2012 13:55:01 Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za Produced by the JSE SENS Department. The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the JSE Limited (`JSE`). The JSE does not, whether expressly, tacitly or implicitly, represent, warrant or in any way guarantee the truth, accuracy or completeness of the information published on SENS. The JSE, their officers, employees and agents accept no liability for (or in respect of) any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential loss or damage of any kind or nature, howsoever arising, from the use of SENS or the use of, or reliance on, information disseminated through SENS.
