Food News

The German Federal Cartel Office has cleared the way for the Theo Müller Group to take over the brands and manufacturing facilities of its competitor Royal Friesland Campina.

However, there were some constraints for the transaction. For example, the "Tuffi" brand division had to be handed over to an independent third dairy, because otherwise Müller would have become dominant in the rice milk products sector. Even before the takeover, Müller held a 60% share in this segment. The Müller Group will also grant "exclusive, irrevocable and perpetual brand licences" for the sale of rice pudding and fresh mixed milk drinks under the “Landliebe” brand and will not use the brand itself in these areas. For the other dairy products, the Cartel Office did not consider the 40% market share threshold to have been exceeded.

In the financial year 2021, the Theo Müller group of companies achieved global sales of approximately €7 billion, Royal FrieslandCampina approximately €11 billion. Both are among the top 10 milk processors in Germany and also rank high in a European comparison

Author: Dr. Frank Mörsberger