The processor’s proposed acquisitions were approved by the Autorité de la Concurrence (France’s competition authority), which highlighted the need for a stronger French poultry market.
The Autorité gave its consent to the takeover, despite sometimes very high market shares, since the transaction does not harm the situation of breeders and consumers.
In a statement, it said: “At the end of its competitive analysis, the Autorité considered it possible to clear this transaction without conditions, which will contribute to an increase in the production of French poultry and to investments in modernising the farms and perpetuating the activity of the breeders, while preserving the interests of French consumers.
The Autorité de la Concurrence said the domestic poultry market was under pressure from European competitors.
“The French poultry industry is characterised by the increasing weight of European imports, which exert a competitive pressure on the sector’s breeders and the slaughterhouses, notably because of their lack of competitiveness (poorly adapted production tools, weak financial capacity of the industrialists and successive national avian crises).
“In addition, slaughterhouses specialising in poultry are generally under-productive, which leads them to obtain supplies from increasingly remote breeders, thus widening the collection areas and therefore the purchase price of the poultry.”
LDC Volaille is part of the LDC Group, the largest poultry company in France, active in poultry feed production, livestock, collection and slaughter, as well as manufacture of fresh meat and processed poultry-based products. The LDC Group markets its products under several brands, including Maître Coq, Le Gaulois and Fermiers de Loué.
The acquired slaughterhouses, belonging to Les Volailles Rémi Ramon and its subsidiary company Sofral, are located in Lassay-les-Châteaux and Javron-les-Chapelles in Mayenne. They market slaughtered poultry, notably under the red label Duc de Mayenne, and service the retail, agri-food industry, catering and traditional butchers’ sectors.