Noble Foods has reassured its customers it is “business as usual” after competition regulators placed an interim order on its acquisition of egg processor Manton’s.
Noble bought two factories – in Harrogate and Bilsthorpe – from Manton’s earlier this year and had started integrating them into its own operations. But it emerged this week the Competition and Markets Authority imposed an interim order on the companies earlier this month, preventing further integration while it reviews the deal and assesses any possible implications for competition in the UK egg market.
“It is a case we are looking at,” a spokeswoman for the CMA said. “The parties had already commenced integrating the two businesses and we immediately imposed an interim order preventing further integration.”
Noble said it was in discussions with the CMA and stressed it was complying fully with the CMA’s requests. “While it would be inappropriate to comment any further while discussions are ongoing, we would like to reassure our customers that it is business as usual at both Bilsthorpe and Harrogate egg processing sites,” the company added in a statement.
News of the CMA’s interim order was first reported by egg industry magazine The Ranger.
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