EU Agrees to Review S.C. Johnson's Acquisition of Sara Lee Insecticides
The European Union’s antitrust regulator agreed to probe S.C. Johnson & Son Inc.’s acquisition of Sara Lee Corp.’s insecticide business after six EU countries raised concerns about the deal’s effect on competition.
The EU review of the 153.5 million-euro ($194.7 million) deal was sought by competition watchdogs in France, Greece, Italy, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Spain, according to a statement today from the Brussels-based European Commission, the regulator for the 27-nation bloc.
EU nations can ask the commission to lead such reviews when a proposed deal “threatens to significantly affect competition within the territory of the member states making the request,” the commission said in the statement.
The probe comes in the midst of a separate EU investigation of the 1.3 billion-euro sale of Sara Lee’s shower-gel and European detergents business to Unilever. The EU last month extended its review to Oct. 22 to examine proposals the companies offered to eliminate antitrust concerns.
Sara Lee, based in Downers Grove, Illinois, agreed to the insecticide deal in June, as the maker of Jimmy Dean foods and Hillshire Farm meat continues to sell units unrelated to its food and beverage business.
“The review is just part of the normal regulatory process,” Sara Lee spokesman Ernesto Duran said in a telephone interview. “We remain confident that a positive agreement with S.C. Johnson can be reached in the months ahead.”
Ziploc, Windex
S.C. Johnson, the closely held Racine, Wisconsin-based maker of Ziploc bags and Windex glass cleaner, had sought clearance for the deal only in Spain and Portugal because the companies’ affected sales didn’t meet the EU’s notification threshold, according to the statement.
A call to S.C. Johnson’s press office wasn’t answered.
The regulator in June cleared Procter & Gamble Co.’s acquisition of Sara Lee’s air-care unit for about 320 million euros. That case was referred to the EU for review by regulators in Germany, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and the U.K.
To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Larson in London at elarson4@bloomberg.net.
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