FCCA approves acquisition of Solita by Tower Bidco

On 21 January 2018, the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA) approved Tower Bidco (Finland) Oy’s acquisition of Solita Group Oy. The FCCA has concluded that the acquisition will not significantly impede effective competition in the Finnish market.

Tower Bidco (Finland) is a registered holding company owned by private equity funds in Finland. Tower Bidcon is wholly owned by private equity funds, whose capital investments are controlled by Apax Partners LLP, which is registered in the UK. The private equity funds in question exercise control over many companies operating in the IT and software sectors.

Solita is a registered holding company in Finland engaged in the ownership and management of shares, holdings and other securities. The companies controlled by Solita provide consultancy and implementation services related to digitalisation.

The FCCA investigated the impact of the acquisition on effective competition in the IT services market in Finland. According to the evaluation by the FCCA, the acquisition will not substantially restrict competition, as the parties to the merger have only limited overlaps in their business operations and the merger will not significantly alter the structure of the market. Furthermore, the regulatory reviews conducted by the FCCA did not reveal any harmful effects related to the acquisition.

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.

Further information: Research Officer Pontus Ranta, tel. +358 (0)29 505 3747
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.

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