Arla Foods receives approval for Allgäuland-Käsereien acquisition

Swedish-Danish cooperative Arla Foods has received clearance from the EU competition authorities to acquire Allgäuland-Käsereien, a dairy cooperative in south Germany.

In a statement, the European Commission said that the deal would not affect the market for products such as liquid dairy cream, packet butter, non-flavoured quark, cheese, whey protein concentrate, lactose and permeate.

The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

In July, Arla Foods made an offer to acquire Allgäuland-Käsereien as part of its strategy to expand its presence in Germany.

Allgäuland-Käsereien has four production plants, which produce 232Mkg of milk as well as cheese and butter products, and has an annual turnover of €307.8m ($424m).

Arla Foods executive vice-president Tim Ørting Jørgensen said the company is interested in acquiring Allgäuland-Käsereien as it produces excellent speciality cheeses with important international potential.

Earlier this year, Arla Foods merged with the northern German dairy Hansa-Milch, which produces fresh dairy products and butter.