Sun International has informed the Competition Tribunal that it has given up on its proposed merger with Maxshell 114 Investments. The Competition Tribunal announced this in a statement on Wednesday‚ saying that Sun International would take no further steps to implement the merger.Sun International had planned to acquire Maxshell 114 Investments‚ which is the controlling shareholder in Peermont Global. Both Sun International and Peermont own hotels and casinos across the country.The Competition Commission blocked the merger in December because the transaction would limit competition in the central Gauteng gambling market and negatively affect consumers.The implementation of the merger would result in Sun International acquiring the entire shareholding of Peermont‚ the commission said.If the merger was to go ahead‚ only Sun International and Tsogo Sun would remain as competitors in the central Gauteng gambling market.Sun International and Maxshell 114 Investments committed to certain “behavioural remedies” to counter the merger's potential harm in this market‚ but the Competition Commission did not accept these.At a pre-hearing‚ the merging parties told the Competition Tribunal that there was uncertainty as to whether the merger would go ahead and asked for the case to be removed from the roll.It was agreed at the time that the parties would inform the Tribunal of their decision to either pursue or abandon the merger...