French poultry processor LDC gets conditional approval to acquire Ronsard

French competition authority Autorité de la Concurrence has conditionally approved LDC’s proposal to take over Breton poultry Ronsard, a subsidiary of the Eureden cooperative group.

The competition regulator has directed LDC to divest three slaughterhouses owned by Ronsard in order to maintain sufficient competition for poultry farmers.

Based in Sarthe, France, LDC has agreed to divest three slaughterhouses, which are located in Bignan (Morbihan), Losse (Landes) and Jouy (Eure-et-Loir).

Ronsard currently operates seven facilities in France, three of which will be acquired by LDC according to the directives of l’Autorité de la Concurrence.

Another three will be divested by LDC to address the concerns raised by the regulator.

LDC said that it will not acquire the fourth facility and Eureden will continue to own the property.

LDC board chairman Denis Lambert said that it is in contact with the potential buyers, and kosher meats marketing firm S2M is said to be in line to acquire the Ronsard Bresse slaughterhouse in Saint-Julien-sur-Reyssouze (Ain).

In a statement, the regulator explained: “The LDC and Ronsard groups are both mainly present in Ain, Morbihan and Landes. In these last two departments, the operation does not harm competition because breeders will continue to have alternative outlets to the new entity (competing slaughterhouses) to sell their production.

“Concerning Ain, the operation leads to the strengthening of the position of LDC, which was already a major buyer in the area, thus depriving the breeders of alternative outlets in the area.”