U.S. agribusiness and trading conglomerate Cargill won EU regulatory approval on Monday to purchase a German chocolate maker to expand its cocoa and chocolate business in Europe. Schwartauer Werke GmbH & Co. KG Kakao Verarbeitung Berlin (KVB) has two production plants in Berlin, with a total capacity of over 75,000 tonnes of chocolate per year. The European Commission, the EU competition watchdog, said the deal did not raise competition concerns in the markets where the companies are active, including procurement of cocoa beans, semi-finished cocoa products and industrial chocolate. "The Commission's investigation confirmed that the merged entity would continue to face competition from a number of other strong competitors. After the transaction, customers would still have sufficient alternative suppliers available on all markets concerned," the Commission said in a statement.
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