The acquisition of the Danish pig processor, Tican, by the German food group, Tönnies, has been formally approved by the EU’s competition authorities.
The completion of Tican’s sale to Tönnies comes just four months after a planned merger between Tican and Danish Crown collapsed following a seven-month review by the Danish competition authorities.
The European Commission said that the proposed acquisition (by Tönnies) would not raise competition concerns, because of the limited changes to the market structure in the markets where Tican and Tönnies activities overlap.
Tican, in its pre-sale form at least, has 277 members and an annual kill of 1.9 million pigs.
Tönnies, which describes itself as a “leading global multi-tier food industry business” now employs approximately 10,000 people across its eight German and one Danish production facility. The Tönnies group is active worldwide, with 25 international offices, and export sales which account for about 50% of its production.
