Farmers: ABP/Slaney Deal. Coveney ditches farmers once and for all, in favour of the big dirty meat processors.

In December, I saw in the Farmers Journal that farmers had to write to the CCPC - (The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission) at once to object to the ABP/Slaney merger. I did and this is the response I got. They basically pretend that no one's mentioned it to them yet, so they can't review it.

Absolute lies.

Minister Coveney has hung you out to dry once too often, hasn't he?
And today, I hear that his brother is about to become Director General of RTE. The closed shop knows no bounds. Your demonstration … and any concerns in the future...will probably not even be covered in any detail.

So, I'll say it one more time. Well done for protesting but DO NOT VOTE that man in again. He is a liability to the land and the people.

This is my pre-election awareness and support message for farmers

Cormac Keating  12/23/15 at 3:14 PM
To
fmicklem8@yahoo.co.uk
CC
Sean Manley
Message body
Dear Mr Micelle
I refer to your email of 17 December 2015 regarding the proposed acquisition by ABP Group of 50% of Slaney Foods.

One of the CCPC’s statutory functions is to review certain mergers and acquisitions relating to markets in the Republic of Ireland, as provided for under Part 3 of the Competition Act 2002, as amended (“the Act”).

For a merger or acquisition, within the meaning of section 16(1) of the Act to occur, there are a number of legal and financial thresholds which must be met. If the acquisition of Slaney Foods by ABP Group meets these thresholds then the acquisition must be notified to the CCPC providing the combined turnover of the companies involved does not exceed the European Union Merger Regulation thresholds in which case it must be notified to the European Commission.

Where a transaction is notifiable to the CCPC (or the European Commission) there is no deadline by which the firms involved are required to notify the CCPC/European Commission. However, the transaction cannot be implemented unless and until the CCPC/European Commission makes a Determination clearing the transaction.

At the time of writing neither the CCPC nor the European Commission have received a notification of the acquisition of Slaney Foods by ABP Group.

Under the procedures adopted by the CCPC for the review of mergers the CCPC will, within 7 days from the date of receipt of the notification, publish notice of it on its website.  At the same time, it will give notice via its website advising third parties who wish to make submissions about the merger that they must do so within 10 days of publication of the notice. In this regard I note the submission you have provided by way of a copy of article from the Farmers Journal.

Once a notification is received, the CCPC is obliged by the Act to determine whether the acquisition will or will not substantially lessen competition in markets for goods or services in the State.  The analytical approach adopted by the CCPC when reviewing mergers is set out in its Guidelines for Merger Analysis.  Once a proposed transaction is notified, the CCPC has thirty working days to make a Phase 1 determination (unless a Requirement for Further Information is issued to the parties, in which case the deadline is extended).  On or before that date, the CCPC will either: (i) clear the transaction or (ii) move to a Phase 2 investigation.  The CCPC has a further 90 working days to complete a Phase 2 investigation which involves an in-depth investigation of the competition implications of a merger.

For your information the European Commission implements a similar process (Phase 1 and Phase2) and applies a similar test.

I hope the information above is helpful. If you require any more details please contact me directly at CormacKeating@ccpc.ie.


Dr Cormac Keating
Director of Mergers
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission
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