EU Grants Clearance For Cargill To Acquire ADM' Chocolate Business In Europe

(RTTNews) - The European Commission has granted conditional clearance for Cargill to acquire Archer Daniels Midland's (ADM) chocolate business in Europe.

Together with the approvals granted earlier by the US Department of Justice, this completes the regulatory approval process for the global deal, Cargill said.

After closing of the transaction, three chocolate, compound and liquor production sites in North America - Milwaukee (Wis.), Hazleton (Penn.) and Georgetown (Ontario) and three chocolate and compound production sites in Europe - Liverpool (U.K.), Manage (Belgium) and Mannheim (Germany) and more than 650 employees will transfer to Cargill. And the Ambrosia, Merckens and Schokinag brands will join Cargill's existing portfolio of high quality chocolate brands.

Addressing the European Commission's competition concerns, Cargill has agreed to divest ADM's industrial chocolate production facility in Mannheim, Germany. The facility will be kept as a separate entity with its own interim management until an agreement with a prospective buyer has been made.

In September 2014, U.S. grain processor Archer Daniels Midland had agreed to sell its global chocolate business to Cargill for $440 million.