Lantmännen Secures Unconditional Merger Clearance in Finland Phase 2 Investigation

In April 2022, the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (“FCCA”) unconditionally cleared the merger between Lantmännen and Myllyn Paras following a Phase 2 investigation.

In September 2021, Swedish agri-food group Lantmännen announced its acquisition of Finnish food company Myllyn Paras from Sponsor Capital. Both parties are active in the manufacturing of frozen bakery products for the retail, foodservice, and industry channels in Finland, and in upstream supply to bakeries.

The FCCA initiated a Phase 2 investigation following concerns over high market shares in certain narrow product segments. Compass Lexecon advised the Parties throughout the merger review process.

Key to the unconditional clearance was a consumer survey and supply-side substitution arguments which proved that the relevant markets are broader and that the markets remain competitive. Our team engaged closely with the FCCA in the design of the survey. We also made a joint submission on supply-side substitution together with the Parties’ external counsels. The supply-side submission incorporated our arguments based on theoretical economics on price effects in multiproduct mergers where firms can reposition their offerings.

The Compass Lexecon team was led by Pekka Sääskilahti, and included Sergey Khodjamirian, Lotta Väänänen, Eeva Hietamäki, Mats Holmström, Juho Anttila, Janne Kinnunen, Alex Wiik, Sebastian Veijola, Teppo Lietsalmi, Janne Sirniö, Jussi Kerttula, and from Compass Lexecon’s Research Team Benoît Voudon.

We worked closely with Jussi Nieminen and Kiti Karvinen from Castrén & Snellman and Niko Hukkinen from Frontia.