December 19 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's competition authority said on Tuesday that it approved the proposed takeover of cereals and oilseeds producer Komerce by local farming group Agria Group Holding [BUL:AGH].
The notified transaction will not harm competition on the Bulgarian market for the production and sale of cereals and oilseeds, despite creating a horizontal overlap, the Commission on Protection of Competition (CPC) said in a statement. Additionally, the deal introduces vertical effects on the cereals and oilseed storage market where Agria Group is active, but will not impact competition or result in independence from end users.
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In 2022, the combined market share of the two companies in cereals and oilseeds production was below 1%, with their combined sales accounting for up to 8.5% of the market. At the same time, Agria Group held a 9% share of the cereals and oilseed storage market last year.
As part of the deal, Agria Group will acquire direct ownership of 100% of Komerce's equity capital, which amounts to 298,000 levs ($166,350/152,360 euro). The transaction aims to sustainably develop Agria Group's cereals trade and processing business in the long term, adding value at the group level.
Agria Group generated 698.3 million levs in revenue last year, while Komerce reported revenue of 46.1 million levs, the CPC said.
Agria Group sought approval from the CPC to buy Komerce in November, without disclosing the value of the deal. Komerce is wholly owned by local agricultural company Agricorn Star.
Shares in Agria Group last traded on Monday when they closed at 20.00 levs on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, bourse data show.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)