European Commission Clears Acquisition of Unilever’s Baking, Cooking and Spreads Business
The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the €6.8 billion acquisition of Unilever’s baking, cooking and spreads business by KKR of the US. Unilever’s baking, cooking and spreads business manufactures and sells butter, margarine and other spreads, melanges, dairy cream alternatives and vegetable oils in Europe and worldwide.
Unilever’s spreads business includes brands such as Becel, Flora, Country Crock, Blue Band, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, Rama and ProActiv. It operates across 66 countries around the world. In 2016 the business had a turnover of €3.03 billion, EBITDA (before any carveout adjustments under new ownership) of €680 million, and assets of €1.108 billion.
KKR is a global investment company that offers alternative asset management services to public and private market investors, and provides capital markets solutions for the firm, its portfolio companies and clients. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns because the companies’ activities do not overlap and they are not active on related markets. The operation was examined under the simplified merger review procedure.
