The Commission concluded that the transaction, as modified by the commitments, would no longer raise competition concerns.
The European Commission said on Thursday that it had cleared the $34 billion merger deal between Bunge and the Glencore-backed company Viterra.
"The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Viterra Limited by Bunge Global S.A. The approval is conditional upon full compliance with the commitments offered by the parties,"
it said.
To address the Commission's competition concerns, the parties offered to divest the entirety of Viterra's oilseed businesses in Hungary and Poland and a number of logistical assets linked to these operations.
Earlier this week, the Bunge-Viterra merger received approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI). Prior to that, the deal was also approved by Brazil's competition authority CADE. Canada’s antitrust agency recently expressed concerns that the merger could significantly reduce competition, particularly in grain purchasing and canola oil trading.
"The Bunge-Viterra merger raises serious concerns about market concentration and potential negative impact on competition,"
says Mikhail Shikhmuradov, an expert at the BRICS Competition Centre.
For example, the united company will control more than 40% of the export capacity of the Port of Vancouver and a significant part of rapeseed processing capacity. Such concentration may lead to a significant reduction in competition and, as a result, to potential losses for farmers, which are estimated at almost $800 million per year.
In addition, the combined market share of companies in corn (23.7%) and soybean (20.9%) exports from Brazil in 2022 indicates a significant strengthening of their market positions at the global level, the expert emphasizes.
The companies announced the deal to create one of the world's largest agriculture trading firms a year ago, in order to compete more strongly with market leaders Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) and Cargill.
Source: Reuters
