EU extend Dutch dairy group merger investigation
BRUSSELS, Oct 28 (Reuters) - The European Commission has extended by one day its investigation into the merger of Dutch unlisted dairy groups Friesland Foods and Campina, the Commission said on Tuesday.
The investigation into the planned deal that would create one of the world's largest dairy companies, with combined sales of 9.1 billion euros ($11.39 billion) was extended from Dec. 1 to Dec. 2, the Commission said in a statement.
The Commission had said the deal could raise cheese and dairy product prices, especially where the two firms are each other's closest rivals.
The companies, both co-owned by dairy farmers, said when the deal was announced in April that the merged group would have 22,000 employees, 17,000 member farmers and more than 100 production and distribution facilities worldwide.
It would rank either third or fourth in the world by dairy sales after Switzerland's Nestle SA (NESN.VX) and France's Groupe Danone (DANO.PA) SA, a Friesland spokesman had said. (Reporting by Bate Felix; editing by Mark John)
