13.12.2018
The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA) approved on 13 December 2018 the acquisition by which Vesijärven Auto Oy acquires the retail and servicing business and spare parts and car accessories retail business of Vaunula Oy in Hyvinkää and Hämeenlinna.
Vesijärven Auto Oy is a car dealership engaged in the retail of cars and spare parts, servicing of cars and trading of used cars. The company is part of Osuuskauppa Hämeenmaa, which operates in the Kanta-Häme and Päijät-Häme regions and is included in the S Group.
Vaunula Oy, owned by Lease Deal Group, is a company engaged in the retail of new vehicles from Ford, spare parts and car accessories, and used cars, through its branch offices in Hyvinkää and Hämeenlinna. The company also offers car servicing for Ford vehicles in Hyvinkää and car servicing for Ford and Toyota vehicles in Hämeenlinna.
The FCCA has concluded that the acquisition will not significantly impede effective competition on the Finnish market. The combined market shares of the parties are not particularly high and, according to the Authority’s assessment, after the acquisition there will be other competitors in the areas and market segments in which the parties to the acquisition have overlapping operations.
The FCCA’s decision includes business secrets of the parties involved. The decision will be published once the business secrets have been removed.
Further information: Research Officer Jenna Huttu, tel. +358 (0)29 505 3576, 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.
Read more about merger control.