Boparan Private Office’s planned acquisition of ForFarmers’ UK feed mill operation could have significant implications for competition and food inflation, the Competition & Markets Authority has warned.
2 Sisters Food Group owner Ranjit Singh Boparan’s family office signed a deal to buy Dutch feed supplier ForFarmers’ Burston and Radstock mills (via its poultry feed business 2Agriculture) in June.
The deal followed an ultimately aborted attempt to merge the operations of 2Agriculture and ForFarmers UK in 2022, with the CMA concluding in December of that year that a planned joint venture raised “competition concerns” that could lead to “higher prices for poultry feed, lower-quality feed or worse quality of service”.
The deal eventually collapsed in February 2023.
The competition watchdog launched an inquiry into the new deal in August. Following a phase one investigation, it concluded last week that the purchase “could lead to a substantial lessening of competition in the supply of poultry feed to independent customers (such as farmers) in East Anglia”, where the Burston mill is located.
While it did not find competition concerns in relation to the second feed mill site in Radstock in Somerset, the transaction would still offer Boparan “the ability and incentive to harm rival poultry meat producers, leading to higher poultry feed costs for chicken farmers and processors which could be ultimately passed to retailers and consumers”, the CMA claimed.
This could lead to less capacity for feed being supplied to independent farmers and processors – resulting in higher costs and a reduction in quality of services.
ForFarmers and Boparan have until this week to submit proposals to address the CMA’s concerns. If suitable proposals are not submitted, the CMA will progress to an in-depth phase two investigation.
“We’re concerned that this deal could worsen competition between poultry feed suppliers in East Anglia – leading to higher costs for farmers which could then be passed down to shoppers,” said the CMA’s executive director of mergers Joel Bamford.
“It’s now up to the companies to offer solutions to address our concerns and avoid the deal moving to a full phase two investigation.”
Boparan Private Office declined to comment on the announcement.
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