Kingspan hit with €40 million EU fine for misleading data on Slovenian deal

Kingspan

08/10/2026 10:45

    By Foo Yun Chee
       BRUSSELS, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Irish building materials
maker Kingspan  KRX.I  was fined €40 million ($44.74 million)
for providing incorrect and misleading information during an
investigation into its abandoned acquisition of a Slovenian
rival, EU antitrust regulators said on Thursday.
    The sanction followed a four-year long investigation by the
European Commission, which is the EU competition enforcer, and
underscores its tough policy against such infringements of EU
merger rules.
    "When companies withhold or distort the truth, they
undermine a system that protects fair competition for everyone.
There can be no compromise on disclosure and transparency. If
they fail to do so, we do and will act firmly," EU antitrust
chief Teresa Ribera said in a statement.
    Kingspan announced its plan to acquire Trimo in 2021 but
scrapped the deal in April 2022 after the EU antitrust watchdog
warned that the acquisition could jack up prices and reduce
quality.
    The Commission subsequently opened an investigation in
November 2022 to examine whether Kingspan had provided incorrect
and misleading information.
    Its Thursday decision said the company provided misleading
information about how it tracks penetration rates for mineral
fibre sandwich panels and the availability of bidding data as
well as incorrect information about board members' involvement
in certain matters.
    Such breaches can cost companies fines up to 1% of their
total global turnover.
    ($1 = 0.8940 euros)

    (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, editing by Inti Landauro)
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