ABP Food Group, the company owned by Larry Goodman, has acquired a third beef processing plant in Poland.

In March, Ireland’s largest beef processor notified the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection in Poland of its intentions to buy a third processor.

Now, it has been confirmed that ABP has bought the plant from Polish processor Sklodowsky, which is situated in Tykocin, eastern Poland.

The facility will increase the group’s production capacity in Poland to up to 250,000 cattle per year.

Following today’s announcement, the company will now employ almost 600 people in Poland and has invested significantly in the country making its processing plants amongst the highest standard in Europe.

Production has already started at ABP Tykocin whose customers will include some of Europe’s leading retailers and food service providers. The main markets for beef produced at the facility include Poland, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Slovenia and Lithuania.

In 2011, the company acquired a plant in Pniewy and then in 2013 ABP expanded its operations after it purchased a second production facility 30km away in Klosowice, western Poland.

Earlier this month, the European Commission’s Competition Authority cleared unconditionally the proposed acquisition of joint control of Slaney Foods by ABP and the farmer-owned agri-food company Fane Valley.

The green light for the merger came after an investigation under the European Union Merger Regulation.

The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would not adversely impact effective competition in the EU’s Single Market.

The Commission’s investigation focused in particular on the impact of the proposed transaction on competition in the markets where the activities of the parties overlap.

These included:

The purchasing of live cattle for slaughter in Ireland by ABP and Slaney Foods.
Purchasing of live sheep and lambs for slaughter in Ireland and Northern Ireland by ABP, Slaney Foods and Fane Valley.
Sale of fresh beef, lamb and mutton in Ireland, including to industrial processors and the sale of fresh lamb and mutton meat in Belgium, including to supermarkets by ABP and Slaney foods.
Collection of animal by-products, generated by the slaughtering activities, in Ireland by ABP and Slaney Foods.
The Commission concluded that the transaction would not raise competition concerns in relation to any of these markets.

The Commission concluded that the transaction would not raise competition concerns in relation to any of these markets.