The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA) approved on 3 July 2017 a corporate acquisition where VR-Yhtymä Oy acquired Avecra Oy, a company providing catering services on long-distance trains. Based on FCCA’s assessment, the acquisition does not prevent competition on the Finnish market in accordance with the Competition Act, taking into account, e.g., that VR-Yhtymä Oy had a mutual dominant influence in Avecra already before the acquisition and that the acquisition does not affect the companies’ market activities.
VR-Yhtymä is a state-owned company, which is engaged in rail and road passenger and freight traffic in Finland. VR-Yhtymä is the parent company of the VR Group.
Before the corporate restructuring, Avecra was a joint venture of VR-Yhtymä and Rail Gourmet UK Holdings Limited, which, despite a shareholder’s interest by Rail Gourmet, has remained an affiliated company of the VR Group. In addition to catering services offered to train passengers, Avecra runs restaurants and kiosks at railway stations.
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 Jenna Lampinen, tel. +358 29 505 3769, 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 of at least two of the parties resulting from Finland exceeds 20 million euros for both. FCCA approves a corporate transaction if it has no harmful impacts referred to in the Competition Act. 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.