The proposed acquisition by Avonmore Waterford Group plc (AWG) of Athboy Co-op is set to proceed after the High Court yesterday refused to grant an order to the Competition Authority preventing the merger.
The authority had opposed the acquisition on the grounds it would distort competition in the market for liquid milk in the greater Dublin area.
The High Court was told AWG was the State's fourth largest company with a annual turnover of £2,400 million and 12,000 employees. It is also the fourth largest dairy processor in Europe. The authority claimed recent data showed AWG controlled about 80 per cent of the liquid milk market in the Dublin area.
Athboy's general manager Mr Patrick O'Connell claimed if there was any uncertainty about the proposed merger, it was possible suppliers could drift away. Athboy was encountering severe trading and commercial difficulties.
Mr Justice O'Sullivan yesterday refused an interlocutory injunction to the Competition Authority which would have prevented the merger pending the outcome of an action brought by the authority against AWG and Athboy Co-Op.
