Vion eyes veal expansion after EC approves Weyl takeover
The Holland-based meat producer was granted approval for the buyout of the fellow Dutch meat processing outfit after the Commission said the deal would not “significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA)”.
Brussels said it focussed its probe 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”. The Commission also examined the possible effects on the vertical markets – from the abattoir by-products to the sale of fresh beef and veal.
The body rubber stamped the transaction “as a sufficient number of competitors would remain in all of the above mentioned product markets”.
Prior to going into bankruptcy on 20 May, the international beef and calf processing company owned one plant in Germany and two in Holland – including at its headquarters in Enschede. No financial details about the transaction were available and Vion declined to give any details about which of the Weyl’s three plants it had agreed to buy as part of the deal signed on 2 July.
Veal expansion
“The main reason we have signed this agreement to acquire Weyl is to get greater access to the veal market,” a company spokesman told FoodProductionDaily.com.
Vion is currently undertaking a strategic scoping exercise to map out how it wants to develop operations at its new acquisition. The company stressed it hoped to do this “as soon as possible” but said it could not be more specific on either the timetable or its proposals.
“We have to start up the operations again – including the whole supply chain,” added the spokesman. “We are studying the market very carefully to understand exactly what the sector needs.”
