Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) approves Cargill Poland’s takeover bid of Dossche. It’s proceeding shows the acquisition would not limit competition on the animal feed market.

Both Cargill Poland and Dossche engage in the production and sale of feed mix and mineral-vitamin supplements for animal feed. Cargill is to acquire 100 percent of the Dossche shares.

UOKiK’s preliminary analysis showed that the concentration could have a negative impact on competition, leading it to issue a resolution to extend the proceedings by four months. The market study took into account the views of 60 of the companies’ competitors. The study revealed that the takeover posed a threat to competition, leading UOKiK to issue objections to the concentration. In its response to those objections, Cargill brought to the Authority’s attention another 17 competitors, which had not been included in the initial  market study. The additional information and perspective they provided prompted the Authority to reinterpret the data its initial objections were based on. They ultimately showed that the concentration will affect eight local animal feed markets, but competition would be limited on none of them. The two companies will continue to face competition from other competitors.

In UOKiK’s assessment, animal feeds for cattle, swine and poultry cannot be substituted for one another, and must be analysed independently. This is due to laws limiting the production of these feed types in the same facilities, and the composition of the feed mixes for particular animals, customers and uses. The study also showed that the vast majority of animal feed sales are confined to a certain distance from the production facility (120 km for chicken feed, 160 km for swine feed, and 210 km for cattle feed), which justifies treating these markets as local ones. One reason for the limited size of the markets is that it is not economical to transport product over longer distances. However, these data do not apply to the milk substitutes and mineral-vitamin supplements markets, which are strictly national in size.  

Additional information for the media:

Press Office, UOKiK
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw
Phone.: +48 22 827 28 92, +48 22 55 60 314, +48 22 55 60 430
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