Overview

• Premium Food Group has lodged an appeal at the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf challenging the Bundeskartellamt’s June prohibition of its planned acquisition of four Vion cattle slaughterhouses and two hide plants.
• Bundeskartellamt President Andreas Mundt warned that the Vion deal would have perpetuated PFG’s dominant positions in pork and beef processing at the expense of farmers and competitors.
• Managing partner Maximilian Tönnies rejects the authority’s market share assessment, arguing the group’s actual position is smaller than regulators claim.
• The company is preparing to apply for a ministerial exemption from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, citing potential public interest to overturn the antitrust block.
• PFG has also announced plans to acquire a majority stake in the sausage maker The Family Butchers, a transaction that remains subject to cartel approval.