Competition Authority made no decision on Hekla-Bilson merger

The Competition Authority had not reached a final position on whether to approve the proposed merger of companies Hekla and Bilson before the parties withdrew their notification in July, mbl.is reported.

The authority issued the statement in response to media reports that the merger was abandoned because the sellers believed it was clear the authority would not approve it.

Those reports referred, among other things, to the authority’s investigation appearing to indicate that it intended to define the relevant markets more narrowly than before. The authority said, however, that its investigation had not progressed to the point where it had adopted a final position on the market definitions or the merger’s effects on competition.

The authority received a completed merger notification on March 20 and began investigating the case. One issue was how to define the markets in which the companies operated.

It said European case law contains clear precedents for defining markets for vehicle repairs according to vehicle brands. Hekla and Bilson held significant market shares in repairs of, among others, Volkswagen and Skoda vehicles, meaning the merger could have had considerable effects on the interests of owners of those cars.

To examine the possible effects more closely, the authority surveyed customers and requested additional information from the companies.

While the survey was under way, and before Hekla and Bilson had provided the requested information, the parties decided to withdraw the merger notification in July. The authority’s investigation therefore ended at the companies’ initiative.

The authority said the parties had not fully used the opportunity to submit evidence and arguments supporting the conclusion that the merger would not harm competition. Because the case ended at the parties’ initiative, the authority did not take a final position on the market definitions or the merger’s effects on competition.