{"id":873746,"date":"2026-09-04T07:32:41","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T05:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=873746"},"modified":"2026-09-04T07:32:41","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T05:32:41","slug":"woolworths-takeover-of-a-r420-million-a-month-company-approved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/873746\/woolworths-takeover-of-a-r420-million-a-month-company-approved\/","title":{"rendered":"Woolworths’ takeover of a R420 million-a-month company approved"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Competition Commission has approved Woolworths’ acquisition of In2Food, a privately owned prepared foods manufacturer, with conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deal was announced earlier this year, with Woolworths intending to acquire 100% of the company’s shares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Competition Commission has now recommended that the sale go ahead, with specifications to address competition and public concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Commission has recommended that the Competition Tribunal approve the proposed transaction where Woolworths intends to acquire in2food, with conditions,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commission said that Woolworths would have to continue procuring items from other companies for a set period after the acquisition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“To address competition concerns, the acquiring firm shall continue to procure from competing suppliers for a set period of time after implementation of the merger,” the commission said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The procurement of goods from competing companies was also outlined as a means to address public-interest concerns about the deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commission also said neither company could retrench employees due to the acquisition, to address employment concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“To address employment concerns, the merger parties shall not retrench any employees as a result of the merger for the duration of the moratorium period,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In2Food and Woolworths already have a longstanding relationship, with the ready-made food producer being a key supplier for the retailer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The South African retail giant announced plans<\/a> earlier this year to acquire 100% of In2Food’s shares and has steadily progressed with the deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The merger was officially filed with the Competition Commission on 18 March 2026, a day after Woolworths publicly announced the deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deal was classified as a large merger, as In2Food is a significant player in the food industry and generates over R5 billion in annual revenue, amounting to R420 million per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woolworths and In2Food<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The relationship between Woolworths and In2Food started in the 1990s, with the retailer initially working with Interfruit and Lombardi Foods. These two companies then merged in 2010 to form In2Food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woolworths is In2Food’s largest customer, with its other clients comprising several local and international food groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deal to strengthen Woolworths’ food business also comes after the company announced it would centre its operations on its grocery sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group saw its strongest results in the last financial year in the food sector, while the clothing and beauty segments lagged behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company attributed this to tougher economic conditions for many consumers, limiting their spending on luxury items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Woolworths is purchasing the ready-made food producer outright, In2Food will continue to operate as an independent business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woolworths group CEO, Roy Bagattini, said the deal would also not have any large changes on the company’s existing food sourcing methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our unique relationship with our suppliers is what differentiates us and is fundamental to delivering our premium food offering,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis transaction further enhances the relationship we have with one of our most innovative suppliers, and will extend mutual benefits to our entire value chain and end-customers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis transaction further enhances the relationship we have with one of our most innovative suppliers, and will extend mutual benefits to our entire value chain and end-customers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis acquisition represents a compelling opportunity to bring a key strategic capability closer to the Woolworths Foods business, strengthening one of the core points of differentiation in our premium food offering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woolworths also said the deal would help its earnings, with added value coming from operational efficiencies expected over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purchase will be funded entirely from the retailer’s cash reserves, with no debt taken on to finance the merger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, neither group has announced how much Woolworths will spend to acquire the company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Competition Commission has approved the merger of Woolworths and In3Food, with conditions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":864435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2095746942990959004","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2195394491280950","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18621603922047295","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[1516,23783,949],"class_list":["post-873746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-competition-commission","tag-in2food","tag-woolworths"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=873746"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":873772,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873746\/revisions\/873772"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/864435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}