Kingspan charged by EU with providing misleading information during Trimo deal (updated)

Kingspan

19/03/2024 12:03

(Adds Kingspan comment in paragraphs 5-7)
    By Foo Yun Chee
       BRUSSELS, March 19 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators
on Tuesday charged Irish insulation maker Kingspan with
providing incorrect and misleading information during its
proposed acquisition of Slovenian rival Trimo in 2021, putting
it at risk of a hefty fine.
    The European Commission said it had sent a statement of
objections setting out its concerns to Kingspan.
    "The Commission takes the preliminary view that Kingspan
intentionally, or negligently, provided incorrect, incomplete
and misleading information with respect to basic facts related
to Kingspan's internal organisation," the EU competition
enforcer said in a statement.
    It said incorrect and incomplete information was also
provided on the scope of the relevant product and geographic
market, the existence of barriers to entry and expansion, the
importance of innovation and the closeness of competition
between Kingspan and Trimo and vis-à-vis their competitors.
    Kingspan said the Trimo deal was not representative of its 
long and productive relationship with the Commission.
    "This Trimo application was unusual and uniquely onerous
given both the level of information sought and the fact that the
process occurred during COVID," the company said in an email.
        "While we do not agree with the Commission's preliminary
conclusions in the Trimo case, we will of course reflect
carefully on them and work with our legal advisers in
formulating our response and we look forward to continued
positive co-operation with the Commission into the future."
  
        Since the Trimo deal, Kingspan has secured EU antitrust
approval for four other acquisitions.
  
    The company, which subsequently abandoned the Trimo deal in
the face of an EU veto, could face a fine up to 1% of its annual
worldwide turnover if found guilty of breaching EU merger rules.

 (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Jason Neely)
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