On 20 December 2018, the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA) approved Orkla ASA’s acquisition of Kotipizza Group Oyj. The FCCA has concluded that the acquisition will not significantly impede effective competition on the Finnish market.
Orkla ASA is a supplier of branded goods operating on the grocery market in the Nordic and Baltic countries with a focus on consumer brands. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. In Finland, Orkla operates in fields such as the food industry and the import and wholesale of raw ingredients for the bakery and food industry.
Kotipizza Group Oyj, listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange, is the parent company of the Kotipizza Group. The Group comprises restaurant chains Kotipizza Oyj, Chalupa Oy, The Social Burger Joint Oy and No Pizza Oy as well wholesale company Helsinki Foodstock Oy, which is responsible for purchasing for the Group´s chains.
The FCCA has concluded that the acquisition will not significantly impede effective competition in the Finnish market. The parties to the transaction only have very minor overlap in their business operations, and the transaction will not significantly alter the structure of the market in any market areas relevant to the acquisition.
The FCCA’s decision includes the business secrets of the parties involved. The decision will be published once the business secrets have been removed.
Further information: Research Officer Jenna Huttu, tel. +358 29 505 3576, firstname.lastname@kkv.fi
According to the Competition Act, the FCCA must be notified of the transaction if the combined turnover of the parties to the corporate transaction exceeds 350 million euros and the turnover from Finland of at least two of the parties exceeds a combined total of 20 million euros. The FCCA will approve a corporate transaction if it has none of the harmful impacts referred to in the Competition Act. The FCCA will intervene in corporate transactions if its investigations suggest that the acquisition substantially impedes effective competition on Finnish markets or a substantial part of the markets, particularly through the creation or reinforcement of a dominant market position.