BAT to take over Twisp e-cigarette in South Africa

British American Tobacco’s (BAT) proposed takeover of e-cigarette maker Twisp won approval from South Africa’s Competition Tribunal on August 13 after the company agreed to a series of conditions, reports Reuters.

BAT announced the deal in 2017 as part of its efforts to increase its offering of next-generation products or alternatives to smoking cigarettes. But the deal had faced opposition, with the Competition Commission coming out against it in July 2018.

The commission later changed its recommendation to a conditional approval.

Under conditions placed on the deal, the combined group would not be allowed to make deals with retailers to allocate their products more than 70 percent of the visible sales space given to e-cigarettes. They also can’t incentivize retailers to deny space to rival products.

The conditions will apply for five years.