Greif - Blagden Merger

Prior to the merger, Greif was the largest manufacturer of new large steel drums in Great Britain whilst Blagden was the second largest. Large steel drums are the most popular form of rigid large industrial packaging, and are used in a range of industry sectors to package, transport and store a variety of substances.

Shortly before the CC published its provisional findings report in June, the CC found evidence of possible additional new large steel drum production in Belgium and the Netherlands which might provide capacity for increased imports of drums into the UK.

Since publishing provisional findings, the CC has obtained further information about this new capacity and has carried out further analysis. As a result, the CC has concluded that the competitive constraint arising from the new plant in the Netherlands, taken together with the limited competitive constraints that had already been identified, changed the balance of expectation as to whether the merger would lead to a substantial lessening of competition in the market for large steel drums in Great Britain.

Inquiry Group Chairman Diana Guy said: We did not find this an easy decision. The merger has resulted in the loss of Greif’s strongest current competitor and the merged company will account for between 50 and 60 per cent of the market for large steel drums.

However, the evidence we obtained late in the inquiry about a new production facility being built in the Netherlands led us to change our view of the future competitive situation. As a result, we could no longer reach an expectation that the merger would result in a substantial lessening of competition in the market for large steel drums in Great Britain.