The European Commission has given the green light for Swiss-based retail group Coop and German food giant Dr Oetker to acquire joint control over German drinks company F&B – Food and Beverage Services GmbH.
The acquisition was approved under EU merger regulations after consideration that the transaction will not have a negative impact on competition in the European Union.
The Oetker Group – best known its cake mixes, frozen pizza and puddings – also produces and distributes beer, wine, sparkling wine and non-alcoholic beverages through its subsidiaries, while the Coop group is one of Switzerland’s largest retail and wholesale companies.
F&B, through its holding in Team Beverage AG of Germany, procures and supplies alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
The Commission concluded that the proposed transaction would raise no competition concerns because “there are only limited horizontal overlaps and vertical links between the companies’ activities”. The transaction was examined under the simplified merger review procedure.
