The European Commission is opening an in-depth antitrust investigation into Cargill Inc.’s $440 million purchase of ADM’s chocolate business because of concerns among industrial producers that the deal would result in higher prices, and would result in more expensive candy for consumers. The Commission’s initial exploratory findings announced in September concluded the possibility of competition concerns surrounding industrial chocolate supplies to customers in the UK and Germany.
Cargill Inc. and ADM are both U.S.-based global trading and processing rivals of agricultural commodities, and the deal, which is scheduled to close in mid-2015, would increase the number of Cargill’s chocolate and cocoa facilities by a third.
The Commission has announced it will issue a final decision on whether it will approve the deal by July 8th of this year.
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