On 24 October 2017, the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA) approved an acquisition, whereby Sponsor Fund IV Ky will gain control of StaffPoint Holding Oy. The FCCA has concluded that the acquisition will not significantly impede, as referred to in the Competition Act, effective competition in the Finnish market or a key segment of the market.
Sponsor Fund IV Ky is a fund managed by Sponsor Capital. Sponsor Capital is a Finnish private equity investor that mainly invests in small and medium-sized Finnish companies that operate in Finland or have already expanded abroad.
StaffPoint Holding Oy is the parent company of StaffPoint, a Finnish personnel services group. StaffPoint provides personnel and recruitment services as well as training services for its customers. The group includes StaffPoint Holding’s subsidiaries in Finland, the Baltic States and Spain.
FCCA’s decision will be published later on its website.
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.