PARMALAT/EUROLAT
PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
The Authority is investigating the proposed merger between Parmalat and Cirio following its second notification.
On 1 July 1999 the Italian Competition Authority began an investigation into the proposed merger between Parmalat and the company to which Cirio has spun off its dairy division. The communication, which was received on 14 June, consisted of a modified project for the merger which had originally been notified on 19 March 1999, and was subsequently withdrawn on 8 June 1999, which the Authority had already begun investigating. The new planned merger differs from the one originally notified in respect of a series of undertakings on the part of Parmalat to dispose of a number of its production facilities and fresh milk and UHT milk brands.
The purpose of the investigation is to see whether the operation is likely to create or strengthen a dominant position on the relevant markets that appreciably restricts competition on a lasting basis. More specifically, the Authority is concerned about the possible effects that the operation is likely to have in terms of competition on the fresh milk market in Latium.
The investigation is also necessary in order to obtain a clear picture of exactly what undertakings Parmalat has entered into, and the way they are to be complied with, the time it will actually take Parmalat to sell off its assets, as well as the procedures that the Authority will have to institute in order to be able to monitor the various phases of implementation of these commitments.
The investigation will take 45 days.
Rome, 6 July 1999