On the evening of Thursday 27 February, the European Commission authorised the acquisition of Agta Record by Assa Abloy. The authorisation is subject to the implementation of a set of corrective measures by Assa Abloy.
Assa Abloy and Agta Record are two of the leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of automatic pedestrian doors in the European Economic Area (EEA) and major OEMs of industrial doors.
The Commission was concerned that the proposed acquisition could significantly reduce competition in the following markets: – the supply of different types of automatic pedestrian doors in several Member States, including Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, Iceland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and the United Kingdom; – the supply of industrial high-speed doors in France. These concerns also related to the provision of after-sales services, including maintenance, repair and refitting, in relation to the products in question.
The merged entity would have been either the first or the second largest supplier of these products in the countries concerned. The Commission was concerned that the proposed takeover could harm competition and lead to higher prices for customers.
To allay the Commission’s fears, Assa Abloy offered the following commitments: – the sale to a competing OEM of Agta Record’s automatic pedestrian door operation in the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary and Slovenia, as well as the sale of Assa Abloy’s automatic pedestrian door business in the United Kingdom and France (the sales also include a licence for the marketing of Agta Record’s automatic pedestrian doors and/or the use of Agta Record’s trademarks in the Czech Republic, Finland and Iceland, as well as a global licence to access and use Agta Record’s technology in connection with the manufacture of automatic pedestrian doors); – the sale of Agta Record’s ‘industrial high-speed doors’ operation in France.
Assa Abloy is based in Sweden and Agta Record in Switzerland. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)