Brussels, 21/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 21 February, the European Commission authorised plans to create Senagral, a joint venture which will be controlled by Senoble and Agrial, two French companies active in the dairy sector. The joint company will operate in the field of the production and sales of fresh dairy products under private label in France, Germany and the Benelux.
The activities of the parties to the operation overlap on the market of the supply of raw cow's milk in France. Nonetheless, the parties will continue to face many competitors on this market. Additionally, the planned operation will give rise to a vertical relationship between the production of raw cow's milk upstream and the production of fresh dairy products downstream. The Commission takes the view that milk producers would continue to be able to count on a significant number of other clients. The Commission also concluded that it was unlikely that the planned operation would cause problems with supply of raw cow's milk in France. There are other suppliers with sufficient production capacities and no elements which could motivate the entity born of the merger to implement a strategy of import foreclosure. (LC/transl.fl)