18 September - The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Foodvest by Lion Capital, both of the UK.
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.
Lion Capital is a private equity investor which is active worldwide. The primary focus of Lion Capital is the investment in businesses engaged in the production and/or sale of consumer-branded goods. In particular, Lion Capital controls Vaasan & Vaasan which is active in the manufacture of bakery products and bake-off products in Scandinavia.
Foodvest is engaged in the processing and distribution of frozen and chilled food products and serves the retail and foodservice sector. The Foodvest Group is primarily active in the UK, Sweden, Norway, France, Finland and Denmark.
The Commission’s examination of the proposed transaction showed that the parties' activities overlap only to a minor extent in the supply of cake products in Finland (retail sector) and Norway (foodservice sector) and in the supply of ready to bake/bake-off products to the foodservice sector in Finland, Norway and Sweden. Considering the parties' market shares, the marginal overlaps and the remaining competitors, the Commission concluded that the transaction would not give rise to competition concerns in the EEA in any of the markets concerned.