South Africa approves SABMiller, Coke bottling deal with conditions

South Africa's Competition Tribunal on Tuesday conditionally approved a SABMiller and Coca-Cola deal to combine their African soft drink operations into what would be the continent's biggest Coke drinks bottler.

In a bid to fast-track the antitrust probe, SABMiller and Coca-Cola struck a deal with the South African government earlier this month that included an 800 million rand ($53 million) investment to support small businesses and a three-year freeze on layoffs. [nL5N18172C]