As revealed by Irish Farmers Journal on Friday morning, the European Commission has cleared the way for Larry Goodman’s ABP Group to acquire the Allen family shares in Slaney Foods.
While Mairead McGuinness, Fine Gael MEP and vice-president of the European Parliament, said she hopes the Commission’s confidence in its decision is proven to be justified, Matt Carthy, Sinn Féin MEP, said the speed at which the decision was taken is “worrying”, coming only five weeks after the official notification.
“Given the extensive efforts and research put into this issue by farming organisations, including a 132-page independent report commissioned by the IFA, five weeks hardly seems long enough to assess the nuances of the market situation,” Carthy said.
He added that small farmers in Ireland “will feel the squeeze” of this market concentration and will hardy be consoled by ABP-Slaney’s “strategic economic rationale” that they will now be able to “faster penetrate international markets”.
Competitive beef industry
McGuinness said a competitive beef industry at farm and factory levels is important.
All the players will be monitoring developments very carefully for any evidence of anti-competitive practices emerging
“Given that Brexit is looming, we must ensure the competitiveness and profitability of all players and must work to ensure that existing markets in the UK remain open post-Brexit,” she said.
“All the players will be monitoring developments very carefully for any evidence of anti-competitive practices emerging,” she added, referring to the Commission's decision.
ABP control in Ireland
ABP and the other shareholder in Slaney, the Northern Ireland co-op Fane Valley, have been pursuing this venture since the end of last year. The deal will see ABP control 30% of the country’s cattle kill and 40% of the country’s lamb kill.
In its final decision, the Commission found that that the transaction would not raise competition concerns in relation to:
1. The purchasing of live cattle for slaughter in Ireland by ABP and Slaney Foods.2. The sale of fresh beef, lamb and mutton in Ireland or Belgium.3. The collection of animal by-products in Ireland by ABP and Slaney Foods. Read more
Full coverage: ABP-Slaney deal
As revealed by Irish Farmers Journal on Friday morning, the European Commission has cleared the way for Larry Goodman’s ABP Group to acquire the Allen family shares in Slaney Foods.
While Mairead McGuinness, Fine Gael MEP and vice-president of the European Parliament, said she hopes the Commission’s confidence in its decision is proven to be justified, Matt Carthy, Sinn Féin MEP, said the speed at which the decision was taken is “worrying”, coming only five weeks after the official notification.
“Given the extensive efforts and research put into this issue by farming organisations, including a 132-page independent report commissioned by the IFA, five weeks hardly seems long enough to assess the nuances of the market situation,” Carthy said.
He added that small farmers in Ireland “will feel the squeeze” of this market concentration and will hardy be consoled by ABP-Slaney’s “strategic economic rationale” that they will now be able to “faster penetrate international markets”.
Competitive beef industry
McGuinness said a competitive beef industry at farm and factory levels is important.
All the players will be monitoring developments very carefully for any evidence of anti-competitive practices emerging
“Given that Brexit is looming, we must ensure the competitiveness and profitability of all players and must work to ensure that existing markets in the UK remain open post-Brexit,” she said.
“All the players will be monitoring developments very carefully for any evidence of anti-competitive practices emerging,” she added, referring to the Commission's decision.
ABP control in Ireland
ABP and the other shareholder in Slaney, the Northern Ireland co-op Fane Valley, have been pursuing this venture since the end of last year. The deal will see ABP control 30% of the country’s cattle kill and 40% of the country’s lamb kill.
In its final decision, the Commission found that that the transaction would not raise competition concerns in relation to:
1. The purchasing of live cattle for slaughter in Ireland by ABP and Slaney Foods.2. The sale of fresh beef, lamb and mutton in Ireland or Belgium.3. The collection of animal by-products in Ireland by ABP and Slaney Foods. Read more
Full coverage: ABP-Slaney deal
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