European Commission Approves Marfrig's Acquisition of Keystone

Marfrig supplies meat and leather products. Keystone is active in the supply of meat and other products for the foodservice channel as well as in contract logistics for food services and food retail industries and freight forwarding.

Sep 24 2010 --- The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Keystone Foods Intermediate LLC of the US by Marfrig Alimentos S.A. of Brazil. Both companies are suppliers 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.

Marfrig supplies meat and leather products. Keystone is active in the supply of meat and other products for the foodservice channel as well as in contract logistics for food services and food retail industries and freight forwarding.

The parties' activities overlap in the area of supply of processed meat products. Moreover, the proposed transaction would create a vertical relationship between, on the one hand, the meat supply business of the merged entity and, on the other hand, Keystone's activities in contract logistics for food services and freight forwarding services.

The Commission's investigation revealed that the combined market shares of the parties in the meat supply business are moderate in all of the product markets concerned and that a sufficient number of competitors would remain active in the markets. Similarly, Keystone's share of the markets for contract logistics for food services and freight forwarding services are modest. This, together with the parties' low combined market shares for meat products, makes it unlikely that the merged entity would be in a position to shut out competitors. Therefore, the Commission found that the proposed concentration would not give rise to any competition concerns.

The transaction was notified to the Commission on 18 August 2010.