The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA) has initiated further proceedings concerning a transaction according to which Lemminkäinen Oyj will merge with YIT Oyj.
YIT is a construction company that develops, builds and repairs homes, offices, infrastructure and entire areas. Lemminkäinen is a construction company engaged in building and infrastructure engineering and sale of stone products.
The FCCA’s preliminary inspection suggests that the merger may impede competition in the construction and infrastructure engineering market, and deems it necessary to continue investigating the matter.
In its further investigation, the FCCA will examine whether the planned acquisition significantly impedes effective competition on the Finnish market, or a key segment of the market. The FCCA may approve the acquisition as such, attach conditions to the approval or request that the Finnish Market Court prohibit the acquisition. According to the Competition Act, the further proceedings may not take longer than three months.
FCCA’s decision includes business secrets of the parties involved. A public version (in Finnish) of the decision will be available within two weeks.
Further information: Sanna Syrjälä, Head of Research, tel. +358 29 505 3385
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. Where necessary, notifications of acquisitions are considered in two stages. The so-called first stage takes a month at most. If the acquisition is clearly not harmful to competition, or if the harmful effects can be prevented by means proposed by the parties to the acquisition, the acquisition is approved during the first stage. If not, the FCCA decides to conduct a further investigation of the matter, during which the acquisition and its competition effects are investigated in further detail.