KPMG Law advises Rudolf Peters Landhandel in merger control proceedings

KPMG Law Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH (KPMG Law) advised Rudolf Peters Landhandel GmbH & Co KG on the merger with BAT Agrar GmbH and obtained a clearance without conditions in the first phase of the merger control proceedings. For the first time, the Bundeskartellamt relied on a detailed supply flow analysis in the agricultural trade.

The agricultural trading company Rudolf Peters from Winsen near Hamburg trades in agricultural inputs and is active in the collection and marketing of grain and rapeseed. Rudolf Peters is present at 21 locations in Germany. BAT Agrar distributes farm inputs, agricultural products and animal feed at 69 locations throughout Germany. BAT Agrar previously held a 25 percent stake in Rudolf Peters and is increasing this to 50 percent as part of the merger.

In the past, the Bundeskartellamt used a radius approach to determine the relevant geographic markets in its competitive analysis of mergers in the agricultural trade sector, but this time it is relying for the first time on a detailed supply flow analysis in the agricultural trade sector. The reason for this is the increasingly longer delivery distances, which the previously customary and comparatively rigid market radii of 30 to 50 kilometers can no longer cope with. The Authority therefore now identifies the relevant market areas individually on the basis of specific supply routes and sourcing channels. This is the first time the Office has applied this method, originally developed to identify geographic markets in hospital mergers based on patient flows, to land trade.

Rudolf Peters was comprehensively advised on merger control and antitrust law under the lead of KPMG Law partner Dr. Gerrit Rixen. The merger was announced on February 25, 2022 notified to the German Federal Cartel Office for merger control. Despite tight market conditions in the agricultural trade, the first phase of the merger control proceedings on March 24, 2022, resulted in a clearance without conditions.

Consultant Rudolf Peters Landhandel GmbH & Co. KG:

KPMG Law Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH: Dr. Gerrit Rixen ( Partner Antitrust Law, Lead Partner, Cologne),
Jacqueline Unkelbach
(Manager Antitrust Law, Cologne),
Christoph Gröne
(Senior Associate, Düsseldorf),
Dr. Nikolaus Vincent Manthey
(Partner, Corporate Law, Hamburg), Peter Plennert (Senior Manager, Corporate Law, Hamburg)

Consultant BAT Agrar GmbH:

Menold Bezler (Stuttgart): Dr. Jochen Bernhard (Partner, Lead), Eliana Koch-Heintzeler (both Antitrust), Dr. Axel Klumpp (Partner), Dr. Felix Gegler (both Corporate)