By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Candy company Mars has not offered remedies to EU antitrust regulators reviewing its proposed $36-billion takeover of Pringles maker Kellanova, an update on the European Commission website showed on Thursday. The deadline for Mars to offer remedies was June 18. Mars and Kellanova did not immediately respond to emailed […]
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Mars has not offered remedies to EU for Kellanova deal, EU website shows
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By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Candy company Mars has not offered remedies to EU antitrust regulators reviewing its proposed $36-billion takeover of Pringles maker Kellanova, an update on the European Commission website showed on Thursday.
The deadline for Mars to offer remedies was June 18.
Mars and Kellanova did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that Mars was unlikely to offer remedies for now to address the EU competition enforcer’s concerns about its high market share in certain products in some European Union countries and its portfolio of strong brands.
People close to the matter said the EU antitrust watchdog will launch a full-scale investigation into the deal at the end of its preliminary review which finishes on June 25.
An EU investigation could force Mars to divest assets to allay competition concerns.
But the bar is high for regulators to prove anti-competitive harm caused by so-called portfolio effects, which refer to a combined portfolio of products boosting a company’s dominant position or creating market power.
It is also difficult to find remedies to address portfolio effects.
The deal, announced last August, is one of the biggest in a sector dealing with the impact of inflation-weary belt-tightening consumers and a shift to private label brands.
The transaction brings brands from M&Ms and Snickers to Pringles and Pop-Tarts under one roof.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee. Editing by Jane Merriman)