PepsiCo South Africa, through its subsidiary Pioneer Foods, will acquire the remaining 50% stake in Futurelife Health products following the initial 50% obtained in 2015.
CEO of PepsiCo South Africa, Riaan Heyl, said “Futurelife is an innovative brand within the cereals market, and we believe its product basket will complement our current portfolio.
“Upon closing the transaction, we look forward to welcoming the Futurelife employees into PepsiCo. This will also mean qualifying employees will be entitled to participate in our employee share ownership scheme, the Basumi Trust,” he added.
The Commission confirmed that the proposed transaction does not raise any public interest concerns which are not addressed through this undertaking which promotes a greater spread of ownership by employees.
This comes as the South African Competition Commission recommended the conditional approval of the acquisition earlier this month.
The Commission’s recommendation was then considered by the Competition Tribunal, which went on to issue its order to approve the merger on 29 May 2023.
The transaction is subject to a few administrative conditions’ precedents, which are standard for a transaction of this nature. The transaction is expected to close and be effective in the first week of July.
The proposed transaction is via Pioneer Foods as the acquiring firm and will see the entity purchase Mr Paul Saad’s 50% shareholding in Futurelife.
Paul Saad founded Futurelife in 2007. The original Futurelife Smart Food (the company’s flagship product) was developed as a scientifically formulated, balanced, nutritious, convenient food containing Moducare.
Moducare is a daily immune supplement made from a patented blend of plant sterols and sterolins.
Over time Futurelife developed a broader product range, emphasising nutrition and health based on its uniquely formulated recipes. The product range expanded to other categories, including bran flakes and breakfast bars.
The development of these products, and other product innovations, were partly enabled by the investment by Pioneer Foods in Futurelife in 2015.
Pioneer Foods acquired its initial 50% of the issued shares in Futurelife in 2015, and the conditions attached to the approval of that transaction were that for five years, the two businesses be administered independently from each other. This condition expired in November 2020.
Since March 2020, Pioneer Foods has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Simba Proprietary Limited which, in turn, is wholly owned by PepsiCo.
PepsiCo’s operations in South Africa are organised into five categories: Bakeries, Grains, Snacks (including fruit), Foods and Beverages, and Futurelife will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pioneer Foods.
The Commission found that the transaction does not raise any competition concerns as Pioneer Foods is already in a position of joint control over Futurelife and, in any event, Pioneer Foods and Futurelife compete with several prominent players in the market for ready-to-eat-cereals.
