The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has given the green light to National Foods and Warrnambool Cheese and Butter in their bid for Dairy Farmers Co-operative but has called for further comment on the rival bid by Murray Goulburn Co-operative and Parmalat.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission advised today that it will not intervene in the acquisition of Australian Co-operative Foods Ltd* (Dairy Farmers) by National Foods Ltd and Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory Company Holdings Ltd, after accepting court-enforceable undertakings from National Foods and its holding company Kirin Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd,.

National Foods proposes to acquire the facilities and operate the existing business of Dairy Farmers, aside from the cheese business.

National Foods and WCB will establish a joint venture to run the existing cheese business of Dairy Farmers, with both companies continuing to run their own cheese businesses separately.

National Foods offered a court-enforceable undertaking, under section 87B of the Trade Practices Act 1974, prior to the ACCC forming a view on the competition aspects of the proposed acquisition.

On the potentially competing bid by Murray Goulburn and Parmalat, the ACCC today issued a Statement of Issues that identifies a number of preliminary concerns it has in relation to the proposed acquisition and seeks further information on certain issues which have arisen from the ACCC's market inquiries to date.

The ACCC invites further submissions from the market by 7 August 2008, with a final decision on the joint bid to be deferred until 21 August 2008.

The Board of Dairy Farmers has indicated it will not consider the competing bids till each has a determination from the relevant regulatory authority.

Canadian dairy company, Saputo, has also indicated its interest in Dairy Farmers but must first receive clearance from the Foreign Investment Review Board.