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NEWS LETTER 2 0 1 0
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European Commission Clears Proposed Acquisition of
Cadbury by Kraft Foods
*
The European Commission cleared the acquisition of Cadbury PLC of
the United Kingdom (hereinafter referred to as “Cadbury”) by Kraft Foods,
Inc. of the United States (hereinafter referred to as “Kraft”) contingent upon
the divestment of Cadbury’s Polish and Romanian chocolate confectionary
businesses.
Parties, Operation and Preliminary Investigation
Kraft
1
is a worldwide food and beverage company which is active in
more than 150 countries. The Commission emphasized that Kraft has a
significant market share in most of the member states
2
of the European
Union, except the UK and Ireland. The Commission stated that customers
in the UK and Ireland still strongly prefer traditional chocolate and that
Kraft’s brands do not match the customers’ preferences.
Cadbury
3
is also a worldwide producer and seller of chocolate and
sugar confectionery products and is active in over 60 countries. In contrast
to Kraft, Cadbury
4
is the market leader in the UK and Ireland because of
its traditional brands.
Kraft sought to acquire control of Cadbury by announcing a public bid
on 9 November 2009.
On preliminary examination, the Commission determined that the
notified transaction falls within the scope of Regulation (EC) No 139/2004
5
.
*
Article of January 2010
1 The business activities of Kraft are the manufacture and sale of packaged food and beverages,
in particular snacks, beverages, dairy and cheese, grocery, and convenience meals, including
chocolate confectionary.
2 Especially with its main chocolate brands Milka, Côte d’Or and Toblerone.
3 The business activities of Cadbury are the manufacture and sale of chocolate confectionary,
sugar confectionary, and chewing-gum.
4 Especially with its brand Dairy Milk. Cadbury is also active in France, Poland, Romania and
Portugal through local brands that it previously acquired.
5 Prior notification of a concentration, Case COMP/M.5644 — Kraft Foods/Cadbury, 2009/C
272/12.