Romania's anti-trust body clears takeover of food chain Good People by Unilever

"Following a review of the transaction, the Competition Council found that it does not raise significant obstacles to effective competition in the market, in particular by establishing or strengthening a dominant position," the anti-trust regulator said in a statement.

The deal, whose value was not disclosed, was announced in June.

Mihai Simiuc, who founded the company in 2005, will remain shareholder in Good People with a stake of 25%, Good People said in a statement at the time.

Good People, operating under the brand name FruFru, raised 4.55 million lei ($1.08 million/960,807 euro) in March 2016 through the sale of five-year bonds on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, BVB.

Shares of the company traded 0.29% higher at 103.3 lei on the AeRO market of the BVB as at 1628 CET on Thursday.

Unilever is a British-Dutch transnational consumer goods company co-headquartered in London, United Kingdom, and Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Its products include food and beverages, cleaning agents, beauty products, and personal care products.

In March, Unilever said it has started to reduce its presence in kiosks in Romania as part of commitments it took earlier in order to obtain clearance to buy local ice cream producer Betty Ice. The Romanian competition authority conditionally approved the takeover in November 2018. Unilever and Betty Ice signed the sale and purchase agreement at the end of January 2018.

(1 euro=4.7597 lei)