The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA) commences further proceedings concerning the acquisition by which Terveystalo Healthcare Oy acquires Attendo Terveyspalvelut Oy.
Terveystalo Healthcare Oy is a nationwide healthcare service company that provides services to individuals, businesses, insurance companies and the public sector. Terveystalo Healthcare Oy is a wholly owned subsidiary of Terveystalo Oyj, the parent company of the Terveystalo Group. Attendo Terveyspalvelut Oy is part of the social and healthcare services group Attendo, the parent company of which has its domicile in Sweden. The healthcare services of Attendo Suomi consist mostly of human resources services, basic healthcare, occupational healthcare, oral healthcare and comprehensive outsourcing services provided to the public sector.
On the basis of the FCCA’s preliminary assessment, the acquisition may have an adverse impact on competition in the healthcare service market. The market share of the conglomeration produced by the acquisition will rise to a significantly high level in some of the local markets where both Terveystalo and Attendo operate. In its assessment of the acquisition, the FCCA must also consider the fact that the social welfare and health care reform, upon its implementation, will have an effect on the competition in the market. Based on observations regarding the market structure and the competitive situation between the parties of the acquisition, the FCCA deems it necessary to continue the investigation of the acquisition’s competitive impact.
In its further investigation, the FCCA will examine whether the planned acquisition significantly impedes effective competition in 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.
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.
More information:
- Research Officer Pontus Ranta,
tel. +358 29 505 3747, 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. 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.