CMA accepts final undertakings in Vandemoortele's acquisition of Délifrance, fully determining its Phase 2 inquiry

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has accepted final undertakings in its Phase 2 inquiry into the completed acquisition by Vandemoortele Group of Délifrance S.A., a manufacturer of frozen pastry and laminated dough products, fully determining the reference. The case page was updated on 6 October 2026, the same day as the statutory deadline for the Phase 2 investigation. On 15 September 2026 the CMA published a notice of its proposal to accept final undertakings, accompanied by draft final undertakings, with a comment deadline of 30 September 2026. This followed the CMA's final report on 20 August 2026, which required Vandemoortele to sell a UK plant as the remedy for competition concerns identified during the in-depth investigation. The Phase 2 inquiry, opened in April 2026, focused on horizontal unilateral effects (the risk that a merger reduces competition by combining two firms that would otherwise compete against each other) in the supply of frozen laminated dough products to retail and foodservice customers in the UK. In May 2026, Vandemoortele accepted an SLC Concession, formally acknowledging that the acquisition may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition in that market, a relatively unusual procedural step that allowed the inquiry group to narrow its focus to remedies. The inquiry is chaired by Martin Coleman and includes panel members Ashleye Gunn and Sir Kenneth Parker.