Brussels, 31/05/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has granted approval for the acquisition of 50% of Ahlström Machinery Corp. capital by the Austrian company Andritz (Carlyle Group). Ahlström machinery is a subsidiary of Ahlström Corp (Finland), in the pulp and paper sector. Andritz therefore takes joint control of AMC with Ahlström.
European competition services noted that the activities of the two manufacturers for the production and distribution of machines for wood processing and the pulp and paper industry are to a large extent complementary, with Andritz mainly active in mechanical pulping and de-watering equipment, and AMC in chemical pulping equipment and in the paper mill approach and recycling.
The activities of the companies overlap in various fields linked to paper washing and bleaching, but this does "not give rise to competition concerns". There will remain several strong competitors on the market including Valmet and Kvaerner, assures the Commission in its press release. The joint venture would have exceeded 50% of the market for medium concentration pulp pumps, but the Commission notes that "Ahlström is in the process of selling its pump business to the Swiss company Sulzer AG. Given that through this sale the parties' market share will be considerably reduced, competition concerns were not found to arise in this area either".