The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA) has initiated further proceedings regarding the proposed merger in which Crayfish BidCo Oy, controlled by Triton, would acquire building technology and maintenance company Caverion Oyj.
Triton is a private equity investment company investing mainly in medium-sized companies in Central and Northern Europe. Triton already owns Assemblin and Habeo Groups, which provide building services in Finland. Caverion is a limited liability company listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange and offers a wide range of building technology services and industrial maintenance.
Based on the FCCA’s initial investigations, the merger may have adverse competition effects in building automation projects and maintenance markets in Finland. The combined market shares of the parties to the merger become particularly high in building automation projects and maintenance services in North Karelia.
The FCCA considers it important to continue investigating the competitive effects of the merger. The further proceedings will examine whether the merger may significantly impede effective competition in the Finnish market or a substantial part thereof. As a result, FCCA may approve the merger as such, approve it conditionally, or propose that the Market Court prohibit the deal. The further proceedings may take a maximum of 69 working days. The Market Court may extend the deadline for the further proceedings by at most 46 working days.
In addition to the FCCA, the acquisition is also under investigation by the European Commission.
Further information
Under the Finnish Competition Act, mergers must be reported to the FCCA if the combined turnover from Finland of the parties to the concentration exceeds 100 million euros and the turnover of at least two of the parties resulting from Finland exceeds 10 million euros for both. The FCCA approves the merger provided that it will not result in any of the adverse impacts mentioned in the Competition Act. The FCCA will intervene in the merger if its investigation indicates that the merger would significantly impede effective competition on the Finnish market or a substantial part thereof, in particular as a result of the creation or strengthening of a dominant position. If required, the processing of the merger notification is carried out in two phases. The first phase lasts a maximum of 23 workdays. If it is clear that the merger will not have any adverse effects on competition or if the adverse effects can be prevented through the conditions proposed by the parties involved, the merger is approved after Phase I investigations. If this is not the case, the FCCA makes the decision to submit the matter for further investigation in which the merger and its competition effects are comprehensively examined.