British American Tobacco's takeover of Twisp wins South African approval
British American Tobacco's (BAT) proposed takeover of e-cigarette maker Twisp won approval from South Africa's Competition Tribunal on Tuesday after the UK-based group agreed to a series of conditions.
The local unit of BAT, the world's second-largest tobacco company by sales, announced the deal in 2017 as part of its efforts to increase its offering of so-called next-generation products or alternatives to smoking cigarettes.
But the deal had faced opposition, with the Competition Commission having said in July 2018 it recommended the prohibition of the deal and local rivals saying in May this year they wanted to intervene in the proposed merger.
The commission later changed its recommendation to a conditional approval.
BAT, like rivals, is striving for a bigger chunk of the global market for smoking alternatives as volumes of traditional cigarettes continue to slide.
Under conditions placed on the deal, the combined group would not be allowed to agree with retailers to allocate their products more than 70% of visible sales space given to e-cigarettes. They also won't incentivise retailers to deny space to rival products.
The conditions will apply for five years.
The Tribunal also said there should be no retrenchments or job cuts as a result of the proposed deal for a period of two years from the date on which the transaction is implemented.
BAT South Africa (BATSA) and Twisp, which have not put a value on the deal, welcomed the decision.
"BATSA has been impressed by Twisp's unique product offering, and plans to expand this for customers, while growing Twisp's leadership position," said BATSA Chief Executive Soraya Benchikh.
In July the South African unit of Philip Morris International Inc opened a flagship store in Johannesburg for its alternative heated tobacco product IQOS.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest News
Showroom
Avlock International is a leading manufacturer and distributor of Specialized Fastening Systems.
VISIT SHOWROOM
John Thompson, the leader in energy and environmental solutions through value engineering and innovation, provides the following: design, engineer,...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
