Competition body blocks Danish Crown-Tican merger
Danish Crown CEO Kjeld Johannsen said the companies had consulted the authority on what it would take for the merger to go through, but it had not satisfied the regulator’s requirements.
Both companies are co-owned by farmers and slaughter almost 24 million pigs between them a year.
”It is, of course, a great shame, and we have to admit that we were surprised by the very national perspective adopted by the Danish Competition Authority in its review, given that the merger would be one of two export businesses,” said Johannesen. ”It’s hard to see how a European single market can develop if all the national competition authorities maintain a local perspective. I find it really hard to see how this outcome will ensure greater competition in the marketplace. What is certain is that it will prevent the development of Danish trade and industry.”
The two companies announced the deal as a merger in February. Danish Crown is the larger company, with annual revenues of DKR58 billion (£5.57bn), 10 times those of Tican.
