Northfield / IL. (kfi) Kraft Foods Inc. announced it has received competition clearance from the European Commission for its proposed acquisition of the global biscuit business of Groupe Danone.
This follows the announcement of Kraft´s offer to acquire the business in July and the signing of the sale agreement with Groupe Danone at the end of October. The Commission´s clearance is a critical step to enable Kraft to close the transaction. Based on this clearance, and the anticipated clearances of other non-EU jurisdictions within the coming weeks, the company remains on track to complete the deal before year end.
The Commission´s clearance is conditional upon Kraft´s divesting a limited number of trademarks in Spain and Hungary in response to concerns raised about the market share of the combined businesses in those countries. These include certain trademarks under the Artiach umbrella brand in Spain together with the Marbu Dorada and the Dinosaurus trademarks. Kraft will also divest the Orozko manufacturing facility in Spain and the Balaton trademark in Hungary. The acquisition received clearance without conditions as far as other EU markets were concerned.
