The Competition Authority wishes all the nation's people a happy holiday season and prosperity in the new year.
The festive season is a time for sauce-making across the country, and amateur sauce-makers emerge with their secret recipes. It is therefore fitting to point out a brand-new decision from the CMA, the British competition watchdog, which has been investigating the merger of Bakkavör and Greencore, the latter of which is partly owned by Icelandic interests.
Bakkavör and Greencore are rivals, but the companies produce and sell food and ready meals to supermarkets in the UK.
The CMA considered that the merger could harm competition in the sale of hot sauces and thus lead to higher prices for consumers and/or poorer quality.
Greencore and Bakkavör proposed conditions to eliminate the effects of the merger which the CMA approved on 17 December.
Í The companies' settlement with the British competition authority It provides for various measures, but primarily that Greencore's production and factory for cold sauces and soups will be sold to a new owner.
Such sales conditions are burdensome but often the only and most effective way to remedy a distortion of competition when competitors merge.
In a CMA press release It is noted, among other things, that the cost of the weekly food shop matters to everyone. It is therefore important to ensure effective competition to keep food prices as low as possible, but the merger would have increased prices, they said. The settlement ensures measures are put in place that address the concerns of the British regulator.
In enforcing competition law in Iceland, the Competition Authority closely monitors the activities of European competition authorities, both within the EEA and in the United Kingdom.
Happy holidays!
"*" indicates required fields
