Latvian Competition Council clears INVL fund's purchase of Lithuanian fish processing firms
Latvia's Competition Council (KP) has approved a merger in which the investment fund INVL Private Equity Fund II will acquire fish processing companies in Lithuania. The regulator concluded that market structure would not change significantly and competition would not be reduced.
Latvia's Competition Council (KP), the authority that oversees fair competition in the market, has cleared a merger in which the private equity fund "INVL Private Equity Fund II" will acquire fish processing and wholesale companies in Lithuania. The decision means the deal can proceed as far as Latvian competition oversight is concerned.
Who is involved
The KP notes that the fund's manager, "INVL Asset Management", invests in various companies across the Baltic region and elsewhere in the European Economic Area (EEA). Companies linked to "INVL Private Equity Fund II" in Latvia work in waste management and recycling, cosmetics production and trade, the food sector and metal product manufacturing.
"Norvelita" and "Saldoga" process fish and make smoked, salted and marinated fish products, including salmon, herring and mackerel. They sell them under their own brands and under private labels. "Nordian Group" is a holding company for wholesale of fish and seafood, and owns the Lithuanian firms "Gonas" and "Baltijos delikatesai". The former trades and processes fresh and chilled fish, producing marinated Atlantic salmon and frozen salmon fillet portions, while the latter makes processed and canned fish products, including canned salmon and pâtés.
The KP's assessment
The KP examined the merger's effect on the market for production and wholesale of secondary-processed salmon products in Latvia, as well as the vertically linked market for primary-processed salmon products in at least the EEA. It left the exact product market definitions and the geographic market boundaries open.
After reviewing the information submitted and that already available to it, the council concluded that the market structure would not change significantly, competition would not be reduced, and no dominant position would emerge or be strengthened in any market where the parties operate.
The published decision states that the parties' combined net turnover in Latvia exceeds the 30 million euro threshold set by the Competition Law, and that each party's net turnover in Latvia exceeds 1.5 million euros.
