Brussels, 29/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 29 October, the European Commission announced that it had closed its proceedings against two Finnish producers of specialist paper, Ahlstrom Corporation and Munksjö Oyj, and their Swedish counterpart Munksjö AB.
The Commission had concerns that the companies had provided it with misleading information in the course of an investigation carried out into plans to create a joint venture NewCo, which subsequently became Munksjö Oyj (EUROPE 10852). In response to the statement of objections sent in February (EUROPE 11026), the parties supplied the Commission with evidence explaining the discrepancies between the estimates of the Commission and the parties' internal documents.
The investigation was opened in late 2012, when Ahlstrom and Munksjö AB were the only two producers in the European Economic Area (EEA), with a global market share between them in excess of 80%, of abrasive paper backings used in glass paper and abrasive discs and bands. In this context, the two companies submitted internal documentation in January 2013 indicating that according to their estimates, the size of the markets for abrasive paper backings and the heavy-weight segment were considerably lower than this, as regards both sales in the EEA and internationally, and consequently that their market share was considerably higher than they had stated in the notification. In response to the statement of objections, the companies have now demonstrated that they had valid reasons to reassess their internal market estimates shortly before notifying the merger to the Commission.
In particular, the companies have provided documents showing that they had carried out a market reconstruction exercise for the purposes of the notification and that this exercise had led them to reconsider the significance of competitors, including a number of Asian players. For this reason, they had corrected their internal market estimates accordingly. (EL)