On 22 January 2018, the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority approved OptiGroup AB’s acquisition of Mercamer Oy and Oy Telpak Ab. The FCCA has concluded that the acquisition will not significantly impede effective competition in the Finnish market.
OptiGroup operates as a wholesaler in Europe in two main operating areas, which are graphical paper products and office papers as well as packaging materials for industry and transport, supplies for professional real estate maintenance and personal protection equipment. Mercamer and Telpak provide products and services for the packaging industry.
The parties to the acquisition operate mainly in different lines of business and the regulatory reviews conducted by the FCCA did not reveal any harmful effects on competition related to the acquisition.
The FCCA’s decision includes business secrets of the parties involved. The decision cannot be published until the business secrets have been removed, i.e. in around two weeks’ time.
- Further information: Senior Research Officer Laura Kauppila tel. +358 (0)29 505 3335, email: 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.