The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has lifted the initial enforcement order placed on LacPatrick Co-op and Lakeland Dairies.

The proposed merger of the dairy processors is still under review by both the Irish and UK competition authorities.

Enforcement order

On 23 November last year, the CMA placed an initial enforcement order on both processors and it was understood the move came after Lakeland moved to inject cash into the business, including buying some stocks off LacPatrick.

In the days previous, payments to LacPatrick staff and suppliers had been delayed by 24 hours after Danske Bank sought assurances around the co-op’s level of debt.

However, the merger is expected to be cleared by both competition authorities and will make Lakelands the second-largest buyer of milk in the country and the largest buyer of milk in Northern Ireland.

The merger could potentially create a milk pool of 1.8bn litres.