Luxembourg: Brasserie Nationale challenges EU bid to review drinks distributor takeover

Luxembourg's largest brewery Brasserie Nationale has challenged EU antitrust regulators' bid to examine its proposed buy of wholesale drinks distributor Boissons Heintz, saying there was no plausible analysis to show that the deal would threaten competition in the Grand Duchy, Reuters reported on July 22.

The appeal by Brasserie Nationale to the Luxembourg-based General Court, Europe's second-highest, came four months after the European Commission told the company to seek its approval for the deal because of the importance of drinks imports in Luxembourg.

The Luxembourg antitrust agency had also requested its bigger peer to review the acquisition.

The Court should annul the Commission's decision because "there was no plausible analysis as regards a threat of competition within the territory of Luxembourg being significantly affected," Brasserie Nationale said in its appeal published in the Official Journal on July 22.

It said regulators also do not have any plausible analysis showing that trade between member states would be affected by the deal.

EU antitrust regulators have in recent years accepted requests by national watchdogs to assess deals which fall below the EU revenue threshold but in which the companies are seen as innovative and potential rivals to their larger counterparts.

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .