The proposed merger between Danish Crown and Tican has been partially referred to the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority (DCCA) by the European Commission (EC), while being cleared in the UK, Poland and Sweden.
Noting that both companies are Danish and are active in the operation of slaughterhouses and in meat processing, the EC said that, after a preliminary investigation, it believed the “proposed transaction would threaten to significantly affect competition in certain markets in Denmark”.
As a result, these “aspects” will now be examined by the DCCA under national Danish law.
At the same time, however, the Commission has approved the proposed transaction in the other affected member states (i.e. Poland, Sweden and the UK), concluding that it would “not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA), outside Denmark, given the low market shares of the parties in these markets”.
The planned merger was first announced in February this year, combining Tican’s 277 members and annual kill of 1.9 million pigs, with Danish Crown’s 8,278 members and annual kill of 22m pigs.
While it was always accepted that the plan would be screened from a competition aspect, the deal received “massive backing” from the members concerned.
