Brussels, 26 June 2008 - The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of the Dutch based food retail company Schuitema by the investment fund CVC Fund IV, belonging to CVC Capital Partners Group of Luxemburg.
After examining the operation, the Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.
CVC and its affiliates provide investment advice and manage investments on behalf of investment funds such as CVC Fund IV. Amongst other portfolio companies, CVC controls Leaf International B.V., a Dutch sugar confectionery manufacturer and a supplier of Schuitema.
Schuitema is a publicly listed company active in the procurement, wholesale and retail supermarket business. In addition to the operation of 117 retail stores, Schuitema supplies goods to 326 stores operated by franchisees under the name C1000. The majority of the shares in Schuitema are currently held by the Dutch supermarket retail group Koninklijke Ahold N.V.
While there is no horizontal overlap in the activities of CVC and Schuitema, the transaction has a vertical aspect in that Leaf is a supplier of sugar confectionery products resold by Schuitema. However, even if Leaf is one of the most important suppliers of sugar confectionary products in The Netherlands, it faces strong competition from other sugar confectionery producers. Schuitema's position on the Dutch retail market is moderate and the Commission concluded that there is no risk of exclusion of other sugar confectionery manufacturers from the Dutch food retail market, nor of access to Leaf's products by other retailers.