1.   

On 10 June 2021, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1).

This notification concerns the following undertakings:

—	ABP Food Group (‘ABP’, Ireland),

—	Slaney Foods International (‘Slaney’, Ireland), currently joinly controlled by ABP and Fane Valley,

—	Linden Foods Limited (‘Linden’, Ireland), currently jointly controlled by ABP and Fane Valley.

ABP acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation sole control of the whole of Slaney and Linden. The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.

2.   

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—	for ABP: slaughtering of cattle and ovine animals (lamb and sheep), processing of their meat and collection and processing of associated animal by-products,

—	for Slaney and Linden: slaughtering of cattle and ovine animals, the processing of their meat and the collection and processing of animal by-products in Ireland and Belgium Slaney and in the UK for Linden.

3.   

On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved. Pursuant to the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under the Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in the Notice.

4.   

The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.

Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. The following reference should always be specified:

M.10280 – ABP/Slaney/Linden

Observations can be sent to the Commission by email, by fax, or by post. Please use the contact details below:

Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu

Fax +32 22964301

Postal address:

European Commission

Directorate-General for Competition

Merger Registry

1049 Bruxelles/Brussel

BELGIQUE/BELGIË