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The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the creation of a joint venture by Danish Crown of Denmark and Westfleisch of Germany. The joint venture will operate under the name WestCrown, based in Germany, and will be active in the de-boning of sow carcasses and the subsequent marketing and sale of fresh sow meat.
Both Danish Crown and Westfleisch are active internationally in the food industry. They are specialised in the slaughtering, de-boning, processing and refining of meat as well as the sale of fresh meat and meat products. The Commission focussed its investigation on the markets in which WestCrown will be present, namely the sourcing of sow carcasses for de-boning and the supply of fresh sow meat for further processing. The Commission found that the re-direction to WestCrown of the sow carcasses currently supplied by Danish Crown to independent German de-boners will affect their sourcing policy and, potentially, their activities. However, the Commission also found that a sufficient number of strong companies will remain active in the de-boning of sow carcasses and ensure healthy competition. WestCrown would thus not be able to increase prices or impose detrimental conditions on the downstream market for sow meat for further processing.
Thursday December 3, 2015/ EC/ European Union.
http://europa.eu/rapid
