The Bundeskartellamt, Germany's competition authority, has granted approval for ZG Raiffeisen eG to acquire all shares of Wurth Pflanzenschutz GmbH. Wurth Pflanzenschutz, based in Appenweier, specializes in selling agricultural products such as pesticides, fertilizers, seeds, and various farming supplies, primarily to farmers.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt, emphasized that the authority closely examined the competitive conditions due to the overlap in business areas between the two companies. The investigation revealed that both companies compete in the agricultural supply market across much of Baden-Württemberg, southern Rhineland-Palatinate, and southern Hesse. However, farmers in these regions currently have a wide selection of significant suppliers, ensuring that they will still have adequate alternatives post-merger.

In 2009, ZG Raiffeisen had attempted a similar acquisition of the Appenweier agricultural trading location, but the Bundeskartellamt raised concerns about ZG Raiffeisen's potential strong market position in the region for pesticide distribution, leading to the withdrawal of that notification.

In the current merger control review, the competitive landscape has changed significantly since 2009. The authority conducted a thorough analysis of actual supply flows in the retail market for pesticides, interviewing over 40 market participants, including various agricultural trading companies and individual farmers. The findings indicated that the competitive conditions have improved, with ZG Raiffeisen and Wurth Pflanzenschutz now facing strong competitors such as RWZ and BayWA, as well as non-cooperative suppliers like BAT, Fliegauf, and Avagrar. Additionally, other private retailers are available as alternative options in the market.

As a result of this comprehensive examination, the Bundeskartellamt concluded that the merger would not significantly impede effective competition, allowing the acquisition to proceed in the first phase of the merger review process.