IP/10/1061
Brussels, 20 August 2010
Mergers: Commission approves proposed acquisition of Weyl by Vion
The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Weyl by Vion, two Dutch producers of meat products. After examining the operation, the Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.
Vion is an international food company which is active in the purchase and slaughtering of livestock, production and sale of meat products and derived convenience food products and ingredients. Weyl is an international beef and calf processing company in bankruptcy.
The Commission focussed its investigation on the potential competitive effects of the horizontal overlaps for the proposed merger in the area of purchase of live cattle and calves for slaughtering, sale of fresh beef and veal and abattoir by-products. In addition, the Commission addressed the vertically affected markets, i.e from the abattoir by-products to the sale of fresh beef and veal.
The Commission's investigation revealed that the proposed transaction would not close off the market to competition as a sufficient number of competitors would remain in all of the above mentioned product markets. Therefore, the Commission found that the proposed concentration would not give rise to any competition concerns on these markets.
The transaction was notified to the Commission on July 15, 2010. More information on the case is available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/competition/elojade/isef/case_details.cfm?proc_code=2_M_5935
