The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA) approved on 27 August 2018 the arrangement in which Jyväskylän Energia Oy, Kuopion Energia Oy, Lappeenrannan Energia Oy and Savon Voima Oyj establish a joint venture called Kombo Energia Oy. The FCCA has concluded that the acquisition will not significantly impede effective competition on the Finnish market.
Kombo Energia will engage in the electricity sale business, such as electricity retail and wholesale, solar power services, electricity portfolio management services, demand response services and electric traffic services. The transaction takes the form of an asset deal, in which the parties transfer into the new joint venture their electricity sales operations, including all electricity sales customers.
According to the FCCA, the transaction will have no harmful effects on competition. The market shares of the parties are low, and even through this joint venture, there will still be many competitors both in terms of electricity retail sale and other markets affecting this arrangement. Establishment of the joint venture will not affect the distribution network, because these will not be transferred into the joint venture.
Further information:
- Research Officer Anu Ala-Outinen, tel. +358 (0)29 505 3010, 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. 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.