The Competition Tribunal South Africa has announced that it has approved, with conditions, a merger in the cereals milling sector in the Highveld region of the country. The parties involved are ACE Brands and Tiger Consumer Brands’ inland milling business units.

Under the approved deal, Rand Agri Holdings will, on behalf of ACE Brands, acquire the inland milling business units of Tiger Consumer Brands. The conditions imposed on the deal concern employment and the terms of employment.

Rand Agri Holdings is focused on trading agricultural commodities. It also owns and operates a yellow maize mill in Bethal, Mpumalanga province. This processes maize and specialises in the production of grits.

The inland business units of Tiger Consumer Brands are a wheat milling plant, a white maize milling plant and the Ace brand manufacturing plant, in Potchefstroom in the North West province. These plants produce and distribute a wide range of products, under the Ace brand, including braai pap, cream of maize, maize rice, super maize meal, samp, super samp, quick-cook samp, ready-to-eat cereals (including instant porridge) hominy chop (animal feed) and animal offal.