On 17 October 2023, the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA) approved the private equity company Triton’s acquisition of Caverion Oyj. The approval and implementation of the transaction is conditional upon the sale of Fidelix Oy’s building automation business in North Karelia.
The FCCA has investigated the competitive effects of the proposed acquisition of Caverion by Triton in Finland. The European Commission has investigated the competitive effects outside Finland and approved the acquisition on 31 August 2023.
The funds managed by the private equity company Triton invest mainly in medium-sized companies in Central and Northern Europe. Triton already owns Assemblin and Habeo Groups, which provide building technology services in Finland. Caverion is a limited liability company listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange that offers a wide range of building technology services and industrial maintenance.
According to the FCCA’s investigations, the acquisition would have adverse effects on competition in the local markets for building automation projects and maintenance in North Karelia. Following the acquisition, the market share of the merged entity would be high and only one significant competitor would remain in the market.
The FCCA did not identify competition concerns in any other local building automation or building technology markets. Although particularly the building automation markets are concentrated in several regions, there will remain enough competition in the markets after the acquisition.
Sale of the building automation business in North Karelia as a condition for the approval of the acquisition
Competition concerns caused by an acquisition can often be eliminated by imposing conditions on the transaction. Triton commits to sell the entire business activities of its portfolio company Fidelix’s unit in the city of Joensuu to a third party. As a result of the commitment, the market will not become more concentrated following the acquisition. The effectiveness of the commitment is enhanced by the fact that the transaction cannot be implemented until a binding contract has been made with a buyer and the FCCA has approved the buyer.
The FCCA considers that the remedies are sufficient to address the competition concerns caused by the acquisition and to ensure that the market structure remains competitive.
The FCCA’s decision contains confidential business secrets of the parties. The decision will be made public after the business secrets have been removed.