On the 14th of October the Swedish Competition Authority (SCA) cleared the refrigerated transports company Tempcon’s two acquisitions of the companies Lincargo and Erling Andersson after two separate Phase II reviews.
The SCA stated in its decisions to open in-depth reviews, that the transactions would not only make Tempcon the largest supplier of refrigerated transports in Sweden on a national level but also an important distributor of refrigerated goods in the northern parts of the country. Moreover, according to the SCA, the merger could potentially have led to foreclosure of competitors from the northern parts of Sweden.
In its clearance decisions the SCA concluded that the transactions will not lead to the creation or strengthening of a dominant position and that the parties are not particularly close competitors. The SCA also concluded that the customers exert countervailing buyer power as they can switch supplier or set up internal transportation. The SCA found no support for the foreclosure concerns raised by customers and competitors.
Working alongside Baker McKenzie, RBB assisted Tempcon in Phase II by preparing submissions to the competition authority and by providing standalone economic reports.
The SCA decisions can be found here and here.
