Compass Lexecon advised Loomis on its acquisition of Ziemann in the German market for cash handling services

In January 2019, the Swedish Loomis group announced the agreement to acquire the German cash handling company, Ziemann Sicherheit Holding GmbH (Ziemann). The €160 million transaction would combine the number two and three in cash handling services present in the German market, after market leader Prosegur. In December 2019, the German Bundeskartellamt decided to prohibit the acquisition with concerns over both unilateral and coordinated effects, despite an extensive remedy package proposed by the Parties.

Compass Lexecon provided economic advice to its client Loomis during the merger proceedings before the German Federal Cartel Office. We made an assessment of potential unilateral effects of the merger including a review of the approach used by the Cartel Office. In particular, we conducted an Upward Pricing Pressure (UPP) analysis to estimate potential price increases from the transaction in various German regional markets and an analysis of efficiencies, which were submitted to the Cartel Office.

The Compass Lexecon team was led by Thilo Klein and Christopher Milde.