Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.11378 - SFH / EXISTING SHAREHOLDERS / ARGAL) Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2024-02-29
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: France, Spain, economic concentration, holding company, management, meat, meat processing industry, meat product, merger control, shareholder








C_202401917EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
Series C













C/2024/1917


29.2.2024






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.11378 - SFH / EXISTING SHAREHOLDERS / ARGAL) Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2024/1917)


1.   
On 20 February 2024, 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:






—


Smithfield Foods Holding Limited (‘SFH’, United Kingdom), belonging to the Smithfield Group (United States);










—


Manusian Family, S.L., Guembox Inversiones, S.L., Mr. Jordi Xavier Cagigós Negre and Mr. Antonio Cordero (together, the ‘Existing Shareholders’, all from Spain), and










—


Argal Alimentación, S.A, (‘Argal’, Spain).




SFH and the Existing Shareholders will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Argal.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are the following:






—


SFH is a holding company part of the Smithfield Group, which is a food group active in the EU primarily in the following activities: (i) the production and sale of processed meat; and (ii) the production and sale of fresh meat;










—


The Existing Shareholders are investors or investment vehicles with no commercial activity other than the management of Argal;










—


Argal and its subsidiaries are mainly active in the production of processed meat products in Spain and France, and sells these throughout most of the EU.






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 treatment for certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (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.11378 - SFH / EXISTING SHAREHOLDERS / ARGAL
Observations can be sent to the Commission by email or by post. Please use the contact details below:
Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu
Postal address:





European Commission




Directorate-General for Competition




Merger Registry




1049 Bruxelles/Brussel




BELGIQUE/BELGIË







(1)  
            OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’).

(2)  
            OJ C 160, 5.5.2023, p. 1.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/1917/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)