Innscor will not pay CTC penalties

Innscor Africa Limited has been absolved from paying $2,5 million in penalties imposed by the Competition and Tariff Commission over the food group's merger with the agro-processor, National Foods Limited.

The legal fight came about after the CTC imposed a penalty on Innscor after it noted that the group had acquired shares in Natfoods which made it a 49,9 percent shareholder in that company.

That shareholding was later reduced to 37,82 percent.

The CTC's investigations in the operations of Innscor culminated in it issuing an order that the group was in breach of the merger notification provisions of the Competition Act, Chapter 14:28, by not notifying the CTC within 30 days of its acquisition of controlling interesting in Natfoods.

It argued that the notification was made seven years later.